This morning I had the pleasure of visiting the Harold Hill Fire Station to meet our local Commander, Paul Hobbs, and talk about London Fire Brigade operations in Havering, fire safety legislation and how we might work together to build a new local fire cadet force. 

Paul has a decades-long career in the LFB and we discussed some of the incidents he has attended and response teams he has led, as well as the changing fire risks across London, the importance of mental health care for those dealing with trauma in our emergency services, recruitment, emergency response and sprinkler installation. I also got to see the equipment, meet the team at the station and hear about the roll-out of the new fire engine fleet across London. 

It was an absolutely fascinating visit and I thank Paul and his team for the extensive time they gave us this morning.