Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Home Office

I am today publishing the Government’s response to the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus (EEIS+) consultation, which provides further detail of our new Residential PEEPs policy.

This policy, which was previously announced in a written ministerial statement on 2 September 2024 (HCWS62), introduces new measures to improve the fire safety for vulnerable residents in high-rise and higher-risk residential blocks of flats, and represents a milestone in addressing the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, a key priority for this Government.

Following publication of this Government response, subject to parliamentary approval, we will move to lay Regulations to implement the new policy.

A copy of the Government response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and it will also be published on GOV.UK.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Our assessment remains that building safety related remediation works are required in a very small number of buildings under 11m in height. We already expect building owners to undertake assessments of their buildings to identify internal and external wall fire safety defects and remediate them at pace where they are life critical.

Those developers that have signed the Developer Remediation Contract are required to remediate internal fire safety defects arising from design and construction, we will continue to make sure that developers meet the contract obligations and are auditing their fire risk assessments and will hold them to account.

We maintain that the responsibility for the costs of fixing historical cladding and building fire safety defects should rest with building owners. They should not pass these costs on to leaseholders but should seek to recover costs from those who were responsible for building unsafe homes.

Alongside taking action to increase the pace of remediation, following consideration of the phase 2 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, we will announce further measures to protect leaseholders.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

We are considering the recommendations set out in the Grenfell Inquiry report. The Prime Minister has committed to respond in full to the Inquiry’s recommendations within six months.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The government has written to firms associated with the failing identified by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, as the first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts. While this process continues, Ministers within my department will avoid meetings and events associated with firms identified as contributing to these horrific failings through their systematic dishonesty and manipulative practices.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

My officials and I have carefully considered the National Audit Office’s recommendations and expect to come before the Public Accounts Committee next year.

The Deputy Prime Minister will also set out shortly, further steps on remediation, as promised by the Prime Minister on 4th September 2024, following publication of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry final report.

Buildings insurance premiums remain high for many leaseholders in buildings with fire safety issues, who have been paying too much for too long.

The Fire Safety Reinsurance Facility, led by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and reinsurance broker McGill and Partners, launched in April 2024. The Facility aims to increase capacity in the market and may reduce high premiums for some of the most affected multi-occupancy buildings with fire safety issues.

The Government has been monitoring the use and impact of the Facility and will provide an update in due course.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The Government has overseen progress against Phase 1 and has committed to publishing regular progress updates on the relevant section of gov.uk, with a final update due to be published in the new year. Of the Inquiry’s 46 Phase 1 recommendations, all but one have now been considered and addressed, with the final fire and rescue service recommendation due to be addressed by the end of the year.

On phase 2, it is of course important that government carefully considers the Inquiry’s findings and recommendations in full. The Prime Minister has indicated that the government will respond to the inquiry’s recommendations within six months, and update Parliament annually on progress against every commitment made.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

My officials and I have carefully considered the National Audit Office’s recommendations and expect to come before the Public Accounts Committee next year.

The Deputy Prime Minister will also set out shortly, further steps on remediation, as promised by the Prime Minister on 4th September 2024, following publication of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry final report.

Buildings insurance premiums remain high for many leaseholders in buildings with fire safety issues, who have been paying too much for too long.

The Fire Safety Reinsurance Facility, led by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and reinsurance broker McGill and Partners, launched in April 2024. The Facility aims to increase capacity in the market and may reduce high premiums for some of the most affected multi-occupancy buildings with fire safety issues.

The Government has been monitoring the use and impact of the Facility and will provide an update in due course.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The Government’s priority remains ensuring that residents living in buildings with unsafe cladding are safe in their homes, now and in the future. We are committed to the highest levels of building safety, and the safety and standards of construction are kept under review. There have been important reforms since 2017 but there is more to do.

Government has an obligation to carefully consider the findings and recommendations from the Grenfell Inquiry Report. A full response to the report recommendations will be made within 6 months.

Answering body: Prime Minister

The Chair of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick has today published the Inquiry’s Phase 2 Report.

The report examines how it came to be that the Grenfell Tower was in the condition whereby a fire could spread so quickly and fatally, as tragically happened on 14 June 2017. A copy has been laid before each House of Parliament and I will make a statement to the House following Prime Minister’s Questions.

The report finds substantial and widespread failings. The Government will carefully consider the report and its recommendations, to ensure that such a tragedy cannot occur again. I hope that those outside government will do the same. Given the detailed and extensive nature of the report, a further and more in-depth debate will be held at a later date.

My thoughts today are wholly with those bereaved by, and survivors of, the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the residents in the immediate community. This day is for them. I hope that Sir Martin’s report can provide the truth they have sought for so long, and that it is step towards the accountability and justice they deserve.

I would like to thank Sir Martin, his panel of Thouria Istephan and Ali Akbor, and the Inquiry team for their thorough work on producing this report and for their years of work on this Inquiry.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Today, I can update Parliament on fire safety and evacuation proposals; on the recognition of CE (‘Conformité Européenne’) marking for construction products; and on updates to the statutory guidance to the building regulations to remove references to outdated National Classes fire testing standards and make provision for sprinklers in new care homes.

Fire safety and evacuation

The Home Office will bring forward proposals in the Autumn to improve the fire safety and evacuation of disabled/vulnerable residents in high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings in England in response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 1 recommendations that relate to Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans, or PEEPs. These proposals will be called ‘Residential PEEPs’.

Through them, residents with disabilities and impairments will be entitled to a person-centred risk assessment to identify appropriate equipment and adjustments to aid their fire safety / evacuation, as well as a ‘Residential PEEPs statement’ that records what vulnerable residents should do in the event of a fire.

The Government has committed funding next year to begin this important work by supporting social housing providers to deliver Residential PEEPs for their renters. Future years’ funding will be confirmed at the upcoming Spending Review.

The Government has made progress on delivering recommendation 33.22[d] of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 1 report, on Evacuation Alert Systems (‘sounders’) for new builds, through amendment to statutory guidance to the building regulations in relation to high-rise residential building design (requiring sounders to be fitted in new buildings over 18 metres in height).

We will consider further the second part of the recommendation, relating to existing buildings, in light of further evidence or recommendations in the Phase 2 report. This will, like the work on fire safety improvements nationally, be part of the important task of reducing the likelihood and impact of future fires.

CE marking

Construction products are a pivotal part of the housing and infrastructure supply chain and make up 13% of the United Kingdom’s (UK) entire manufacturing base by turnover. Ensuring continuing supply of products is critical to delivering house building targets and wider infrastructure ambitions. These products must be safe. Evidence to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry revealed the scale of concern about construction products – products which are vital to all our buildings and infrastructure – and the system that oversees them remains inadequate.

A subset of construction products fall within scope of the current construction products regulations. These existing regulations set out rules for placing construction products on the market, providing a common technical language to assess the performance of products. Products within scope of these regulations must undergo an assessment of conformity with the relevant standard or technical assessment. Such products must also be affixed with a UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) or a CE (Conformité Européenne) mark. Current Government guidance sets out that recognition of CE marking will end in June 2025.

I can announce today that the Government will extend the period of recognition of CE marking for construction products. The CE mark will continue to be available when placing construction products on the market across the UK.

We have listened to the findings from the Independent Review of the Construction Products Testing Regime. This was clear that there is currently insufficient testing and certification capacity in the UK alone to provide the volume of conformity assessment that would be required were CE recognition to end. We are also clear that ending recognition of CE marking without reforming the domestic regime would create trade barriers and negatively affect the supply of products that meet recognised standards.

I am also determined to address the inadequacies across the wider construction products regime. Residents and communities need to be confident that their homes will be safe and well-built now and in the future. To ensure this, the Government will want to take into account any recommendations from the forthcoming Grenfell Inquiry report to inform proposals for reform. Therefore, I am making this extension, and the longer-term future of CE/UKCA marking, conditional on this Government committing to system wide reform of the construction products regulatory regime.

The Government recognises the role of UK Conformity Assessment Bodies in ensuring compliance of goods on the market. As part of the reforms the Government will work with UK Conformity Assessment Bodies, the UK Accreditation Service, and the wider industry to strengthen the conformity assessment market.

Lastly, I recognise the need for industry to have sufficient certainty to support supply chains. I can confirm that any subsequent changes to the recognition of CE marking would be subject to a minimum 2-year transitional period.

National Classes and Sprinklers in care homes

I am also announcing, today, publication of two updates to the statutory guidance that accompanies Building Regulations. First, we are introducing a provision for sprinklers to be installed in new care homes; and second, we are completing the withdrawal of the outdated National Classes fire testing standards, ending a long period of dual specification in favour of the more robust European standard. This implements the recommendation, made in the Hackitt Report, for a clearer, transparent and effective testing regime. Alongside guidance for second staircases in tall residential buildings that are more than 18m in height, which was published on 29 March 2024, these measures conclude the new policy responses to the Sprinklers in care homes, removal of national classes, and staircases in residential buildings consultation, which ran from 23 December 2022 to 17 March 2023.

Withdrawing the National Classes fire testing standards from ‘Approved Document B’ will end the dual classification system that has operated since the early 2000s in favour of the more rigorous, internationally recognised European standard (BS EN 13501). The current testing standard tests for both reaction to fire and fire resistance. I am aware that there are a small number of manufacturers who have only ever tested to National Class standards who will need time to re-test their products. We are providing industry with a transition period of five years for fire resistance and 6 months for reaction to fire. This is a generous yet critical approach and has been put in place to facilitate a smooth transition to the European standard that is not disruptive to supply chains.

A compassionate society protects its most vulnerable. Today, I am also publishing an update to ‘Approved Document B’ that makes provision for sprinklers in all new care homes. Sprinklers enhance fire protection where residents may be reliant on others for help and assistance, especially if a building evacuation is needed. Many care home providers already include sprinklers in new designs. For those that do not yet provide for sprinklers, again, I recognise that businesses and investors seek certainty. So, care homeowners and developers will benefit from a six-month transition period until the guidance comes into effect and will then have a further six months to enable work on current development projects that are underway, or about to start, to continue.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Speeding up the remediation of buildings is absolutely critical. Seven years on from Grenfell, action has been far too slow and the fire in Dagenham is a horrific reminder of the risk unsafe cladding still poses to far too many people. This Government will expect more from regulators to make sure action is being taken now to make homes safe, speed up remediation and ensure that buildings in the process of being remediated are managed safely for residents. Alongside taking action to increase the pace of remediation, we are also committed to better protect leaseholders from the costs of remediation. Following consideration of the phase 2 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, we will announce further measures to accelerate remediation and protect leaseholders.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is a statutory Inquiry established under the Inquiries Act 2005. Under the terms of the Act, the drafting of an inquiry final report and the timing of that process are both matters for the independent Chair of the inquiry.

The Inquiry publishes regular updates on the progress of its final report. In their April 2024 Newsletter published on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry website at https://www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk/news/april-2024-newsletter, they emphasised that the current phase of the inquiry is reaching its final stages, and reiterated their commitment and determination to publish the report as soon as possible. Further updates to timelines will be published on the website as and when they become known.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government has run two public consultations on supporting the evacuation and fire safety of vulnerable residents (which includes disabled residents) in light of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations concerning Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs).

The first consultation found substantial difficulties in mandating PEEPs in high-rise residential buildings, focussed on practicality, proportionality and safety.

The Government consulted upon a different package of measures during Summer 2022 – the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus consultation – and is now considering the responses to this, alongside the responses to its accompanying calls for evidence, and will publish a response in due course.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government is committed to delivering against the recommendations made in the Grenfell Tower Phase 1 report.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, delivering the majority of the recommendations to Government, have now come into force, and most recently we have published guidelines to the Fire and Rescue Service to support their role in evacuation, meeting a further Inquiry recommendation.

The remaining four recommendations to Government concern evacuation. Three of these are addressed in the proposals in the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus consultation, and for the fourth, concerning evacuation alert systems, this has been met for new high rise residential buildings, and the Home Office is undertaking further work regarding existing buildings, including developing an evidence base of existing evacuation alert systems.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government publishes a detailed bi-annual progress tracker on implementation of the Phase 1 recommendations. The next iteration is due to be published shortly.

The tracker can be found on the gov.uk website under Grenfell Progress Tracker. The June 2023 tracker reported the following overall completion rates:

31 of the 46 recommendations completed overall.

10 out of 15 recommendations for Government (more detail on the five outstanding recommendations, which relate to evacuation, is set out below).

13 out of the 14 for LFB only.

1 out of the 9 for all FRSs. FRSs have, however, reported to the NFCC completion of 91% of their actions on average, but national recommendations cannot be signed off as complete until all 44 services have completed all actions in full.

7 out of 8 for other bodies including other emergency services.

Answering body: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

The Government supports the independent Grenfell Tower Inquiry, through which we may understand the truth about the circumstances leading to the tragedy.

We remain committed to ensuring bereaved, survivors and residents get the support they need for the long term, including throughout the Inquiry process. My department continues to work closely with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and health partners to ensure there are services available to support the evolving needs of the community; this includes physical and emotional wellbeing services.

In addition, the government has funded legal representation for all bereaved, survivors and residents who are core participants to the Inquiry to ensure they are not disadvantaged. Those who attended the Inquiry hearings have had their daily travel and subsistence costs covered. These costs are government funded and administered by the Inquiry.

The department has a dedicated community engagement team who are also available to meet families individually or in a small groups with other families – however they feel most comfortable - and will continue to support the recovery of those affected.

Answering body: Home Office

I am pleased to announce to the House that the Government is today publishing our official response to the fire reform White Paper and consultation.

Last year we published our White Paper, “Reforming Our Fire and Rescue Service” (CP 670), to gauge the public and sector’s views on how we wished to drive reform within fire and rescue services. Our proposals were built on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the recommendations from HMICFRS’ independent inspections, challenging national report findings and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

In the period since the White Paper was published, further challenges in the fire sector have been the focus of public and parliamentary debate. I refer, in particular, to the independent review of culture in the London Fire Brigade and the HMICFRS national spotlight report into values and culture. These reports highlighted misconduct in multiple fire and rescue services and uncovered totally unacceptable behaviours. Our White Paper response sets out our ambition to improve integrity across the sector.

The feedback on our proposals has allowed us to refine our next steps and announce today our package of reform, which will focus on the areas that have the biggest impact for the public and for fire professionals: developing a profession to be proud of and ensuring that fire services do more to put the public first. These include:

Introducing a professional College of Fire & Rescue to raise standards and strengthen leadership.

Developing provision for fire chiefs to have operational independence.

Tasking the National Joint Council to review the pay negotiation mechanism.

Taking action to improve integrity and culture in fire and rescue services through improved training, more open recruitment practices and working towards a statutory code of ethics for fire and rescue employees.

Our fire and rescue professionals deserve our support as they not only respond to a changing world but also seek to develop and strengthen their own capabilities. This consultation response sets out how we can work together with partners across the fire sector to deliver this.

I would like to put on record my thanks to everyone who has engaged with us on our White Paper and consultation. Whether you have helped us shape our proposals or provided feedback on how they can work, your help has ensured we can drive forward much needed and long overdue reform for our fire and rescue services and ensure the best possible service for the public.

The Government’s response has been laid before Parliament as a Command Paper (CP 993) and will be available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-our-fire-and-rescue-service

Answering body: Home Office

The Government published the 6th bi-annual progress tracker on implementation of the Phase 1 recommendations on 29 June on gov.uk and Fire England.

This reported that 31 of the 46 recommendations have been completed overall. This includes the following completion rates:

· 10 out of 15 recommendations for Government.

· 13 out of the 14 for LFB only.

· 1 out of the 9 for all fire and rescue services (FRSs). FRSs have, however, reported completion rates of 91% of their actions on average, but national recommendations cannot be signed off as complete until all 44 services have completed all actions in full.

7 out of 8 for other bodies including other emergency services.

Government remains committed to overseeing the delivery of all of the Phase 1 recommendations. The 7th tracker is due to be published shortly and will report on the further progress made by FRSs and Government.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is a statutory Inquiry established under the Inquiries Act 2005. Under the terms of the Act, the drafting of an inquiry final report and the timing of that process are both matters for the independent Chair of the inquiry.

In their April 2023 Newsletter published on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry website at https://www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk/news/april-2023-newsletter, the Inquiry recognised the desire for the report to be published as soon as possible.

They noted that ‘The Inquiry hopes to complete the drafting of the report before the end of 2023. Various practical steps will then need to follow, such as proof-reading, typesetting and printing, all of which take time. We shall send the report to the Prime Minister, as required by our terms of reference, as soon as we can but that will probably not be possible before the beginning of next year.’

Answering body: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

The Department welcomes the views of industry on all the measures proposed in our December 2022 consultation, including on testing capacity and transition periods for the proposed changes. In this consultation we are proposing to remove the national classification from Approved Document B and utilise the more robust and up to date internationally recognised standard. During the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the use of the national classification system came under scrutiny, and flaws in its use were presented in the oral expert evidence. The BS 476 series standards have not been reviewed by the British Standards Institution in detail for some time (over 20 years on average). In addition, in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower and following an investigation by the Department several issues were highlighted with the consistency of fire resistance performance of some fire doors.

Upon completion of the public consultation, and subsequent analysis of the responses, the department will publish, alongside the government response, a full regulatory impact assessment which will include a detailed assessment of the impacts of the changes to the guidance. This assessment will be informed by the responses to the consultation and the evidence provided.

Answering body: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

The Department welcomes the views of industry on all the measures proposed in our December 2022 consultation, including on testing capacity and transition periods for the proposed changes. In this consultation we are proposing to remove the national classification from Approved Document B and utilise the more robust and up to date internationally recognised standard. During the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the use of the national classification system came under scrutiny, and flaws in its use were presented in the oral expert evidence. The BS 476 series standards have not been reviewed by the British Standards Institution in detail for some time (over 20 years on average). In addition, in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower and following an investigation by the Department several issues were highlighted with the consistency of fire resistance performance of some fire doors.

Upon completion of the public consultation, and subsequent analysis of the responses, the department will publish, alongside the government response, a full regulatory impact assessment which will include a detailed assessment of the impacts of the changes to the guidance. This assessment will be informed by the responses to the consultation and the evidence provided.

Answering body: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

The Department welcomes the views of industry on all the measures proposed in our December 2022 consultation, including on testing capacity and transition periods for the proposed changes. In this consultation we are proposing to remove the national classification from Approved Document B and utilise the more robust and up to date internationally recognised standard. During the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the use of the national classification system came under scrutiny, and flaws in its use were presented in the oral expert evidence. The BS 476 series standards have not been reviewed by the British Standards Institution in detail for some time (over 20 years on average). In addition, in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower and following an investigation by the Department several issues were highlighted with the consistency of fire resistance performance of some fire doors.

Upon completion of the public consultation, and subsequent analysis of the responses, the department will publish, alongside the government response, a full regulatory impact assessment which will include a detailed assessment of the impacts of the changes to the guidance. This assessment will be informed by the responses to the consultation and the evidence provided.