Boris Johnson failed to hose down concerns about cutbacks at City Hall today as he visited a fire station in one of his first public engagements as London Mayor.

Mr Johnson was to address about 700 staff this afternoon to outline his vision for the next four years.

He told reporters in East London that there were many talented and able workers at City Hall but added that he had been elected to ensure that Londoners saw “taxpayer value”.

Mr Johnson has already signalled he will mount an inquiry into bureaucratic waste at the organisation. That is expected to lead to 14 jobs being cut in the mayor’s 70-strong publicity and marketing team and the Tory team have not ruled out further redundancies.

Joined by Ray Lewis, whom he appointed yesterday as Deputy Mayor for Young People, Mr Johnson visited Dagenham Fire Station to watch youths taking part in a fire safety course.

His team of media minders quickly ushered Mr Johnson out of the way before he was sprayed with water as the teenagers hosed down a five-storey smoking building for the “towering inferno” exercise.

Mr Johnson pledged that by the end of the week, Londoners would see parts of his agenda beginning to take shape.

“You’ll certainly see some action on the safer transport teams,” he said.

He declared crime would be his major focus: “Crime is a huge concern for Londoners. I am going to work night and day to make this capital safer.”

Mr Johnson played down any talk of tension in the hand over at City Hall and promised to build on his predecessor’s legacy.

He said: “I am going to be talking to the staff later on making a very simple point. The differences between me and the previous mayor have been greatly exaggerated. We do have differences in our political philosophies, but that does not mean there are not areas of common ground. I will do my best to work with the people at City Hall.”

Mr Lewis said he wanted to utilise his previous experience working with young offenders to help formulate policy alongside the new mayor.

He said: “I promise to listen to the youth of London, give the youth of London a voice, raising aspirations and engaging young people in positive activities.”

Mr Johnson is expected to outline further appointments and fresh additions to his team this week.

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