Officials from the Government Office for London (GOL) have refused to appear in front of the London Assembly. The Assembly had agreed to investigate the capital’s readiness in the event of a major terrorist attack.
However GOL officials refused to co-operate with the Assembly claiming that the body answered only to Parliament. However senior figures from the London Ambulance Service, Metropolitan Police Service, London Fire Authority, London Resilience Forum, Greater London Authority and Association of London Government did attend the special meeting.
Brian Coleman AM, Chairman of the London Assembly, said: "The failure of the Government Office for London to answer questions on London’s resilience in public is a discourtesy to Londoners. Most of the top figures in London’s emergency services turned up at this important London Assembly meeting to discuss for the first time in public our preparedness for a major incident. Yet the civil servants who are responsible for taking the lead on this issue refused to attend.
"The meeting highlighted a need for the public to be better informed and for a single organisation to deal with the immediate aftermath of an incident. The Assembly is confident that the capital’s emergency services can adequately protect Londoners, but our inquiry aims to make the capital’s civil defence procedures more streamlined."
