A temporary truce has been declared in the dispute between the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and the London Fire Brigade over the appointment of members of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.
Earlier this month, the Mayor refused to confirm the appointment of eight white men and one white woman on the grounds that they were not representative of London’s minorities. But after the threat of legal action from London’s fire chief, Sir Ken Knight, who was concerned that the fire authority would not be able to perform its duties and hold its annual meeting, Mr Livingstone agreed to confirm the appointments on a temporary basis until 31 August.
In the meantime, he has asked the London councils to provide detailed information on how the nominations were arrived at, and to demonstrate how the councils have complied with their legal duties. Members of the authority are made up from people nominated by individual London boroughs and by the London Assembly.
The Mayor also appointed an additional woman Assembly member to replace one on the male- only list nominated by the Conservative Assembly group.
“For a long time now I have been asking the Conservative and Liberal Democrat groups to come up with nominations to this important public body that would provide a better reflection of London’s diversity and to increase from zero their nomination of black and Asian people,” he said. “There are 80 black and Asian Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors in London – the argument that none are qualified to serve on the Fire Authority has no credibility.”
In the meantime, the Equal Opportunities Commission is investigating claims that Mr Livingstone was discriminatory in blocking the original nominees.
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