We consulted on the proposal below between 12 September and 25 October. When we've finished analysing the results we'll provide an update on what happens next. Thank you to everyone who took part.
Across London, less than one per cent of AFAs end up being recorded as fires. Ninety-nine per cent are false alarms.
Between April 2022 and March 2023 we attended 47,000 false alarm calls. Nearly a third of these were to non-residential properties. This is equivalent to around 23,500 hours in staffing time.
The proposed change outlined below is not designed to deliver financial savings, but to create capacity for us to prioritise fire safety visits, particularly of the most vulnerable, better engage with our communities and improve operational training.
We intend to stop attending AFAs between 7am and 6pm (when most buildings will have staff on site who can confirm whether the alarm is genuine).
There are exceptions to this. We’ll continue to attend:
We will always attend when called to a fire by a member of the public and to Automatic Fire Alarms between the hours of 6pm and 7am.
Find out more about the proposed change, including what we do now, why we are proposing a change, and the full list of exemptions, in the file below.
The benefits
If you have questions or want to find out more about the consultation, you can email the team at consultation@london-fire.gov.uk
