It’s Your London Fire Brigade – Public Consultation: Independent Analysis Report 

Task  

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) ran a public consultation to gain a deeper understanding of local need and what communities expect from their Brigade. These views were gathered to allow insight into how risk from fire and other emergencies in London has changed over time and how different factors combine to make people more or less at risk. The consultation had two main aims; to make informed strategic changes to the way the LFB operate and to inform their annual ‘Assessment of Risk’. Responses to the consultation were received via a questionnaire which TONIC were asked to analyse.  

Our Approach  

A total of 768 responses were received during the consultation, capturing the views of members of the public, LFB staff, and representatives from other organisations or professionals. Feedback was also considered from LFB events, such as open days, and contribution from the Fire Brigades Union. TONIC conducted quantitative analysis for the option preference responses to the questionnaire as well as using Thematic Analysis to summarise the qualitative responses to the consultation questions. The data was coded and provided an overall analysis of themes relevant to the consultation which were presented in the final report.  

Outcome 

TONIC presented the findings using two subsections that reflected the main aims of the consultation. The first, summarised how effective the respondents felt the LFB is in delivering a positive impact to the community. The main themes that emerged highlighted the importance of the LFB being easily accessible, joined up to ensure everyone benefits from the services they need, and flexible to London’s constantly changing size, climate, and incidents. The second subsection summarised findings related to the ‘Assessment of Risk’. These included both place-related and people-related risks, such as specific obstacles that might hinder the LFB’s access to potential emergencies or problems posed by language difficulties and terrorism. In addition to this, respondents were also keen to encourage the LFB to continue their outreach and prevention work in the community and expand this in the future.