The government has published its second quarterly update on progress to meet the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations, highlighting the breadth of work taking place.
In a useful development, the government is now providing thematic updates of the work taking place by government, the London Fire Brigade, the National Fire Chiefs Council and other bodies to respond to the 46 recommendations made by Sir Martin Moore-Bick in his Phase 1 report.
Key changes in this quarter include:
- Progress of the Fire Safety Bill through Parliament to include the front doors of flats and external wall systems within the scope of the Fire Safety Order
- Publication of the Fire Safety consultation response, which set out other changes to the Fire Safety Order, highlighted the continued high levels of automatic fire alarms and the relationship between fire and rescue services and building control
- The launch of the Fire Broadcast Talkgroup which means that if a fire and rescue service becomes overwhelmed with emergency calls, the affected service can now make an announcement on their control room Airwave Radio and it will be received in every control room across the county simultaneously.
The quarterly update provides progress against every recommendation, indicating where government has worked with other organisations to make progress.
There are notable updates on work related to evacuation.
The Inquiry recommended that the Government develop national guidelines for carrying out partial or total evacuations of high-rise residential buildings. A government led steering group commissioned an evidence review of methods of evacuation is being finalised before publication.
Successful suppliers have been appointed for the building design, human behaviour and evacuation operational research strands.
The update confirms that the government will seek further views on the complex issue of personal emergency evacuation plans. The details of this are currently being decided and the update states that the government aims to launch a consultation focused on Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans in spring 2021.
Jim Glockling, Technical Director of the FPA welcomed the report. He said: “It is really encouraging to see the government reporting in such a transparent way. It’s so important that everyone in the fire sector as well as the general public can have access to work that is going on in government and other agencies.
“We know that the Grenfell Tower fire brought into stark relief the weaknesses in fire safety in the built environment and the FPA continues to work with government and other stakeholders to bring about the improvements that are so desperately needed.”
