Fire services develop evacuation policies and training
Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 1 Report · Issued 30 October 2019 · Addressed to: National Fire Chiefs Council
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, 33.22b
Fire and rescue services develop policies for partial and total evacuation of high-rise residential buildings and training to support them.
Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 1 Report · 30 Oct 2019 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- National Evacuation Guidelines were published on 5 February 2024 (National Evacuation Guidelines for Fire and Rescue Services, MHCLG, February 2024).
- The government's Phase 1 progress report stated this recommendation is complete, with all 43 fire and rescue services having completed training on evacuation policies (Quarterly Thematic Update, MHCLG, February 2025).
Response — verbatim from government
●National Fire Chiefs Council — initial response
The National Fire Chiefs Council accepted all Phase 1 recommendations directed to it. NFCC committed to developing national guidance and training products across all 43 fire and rescue services in England, covering external wall fire risks, fire survival guidance procedures, evacuation policies, and smoke hood deployment.
National Fire Chiefs Council · 21 Jan 2020 Written response →
●UK Government — follow-up
The government accepted in principle all the Phase 1 recommendations directed at central government. The Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick presented the formal response to Parliament on 21 January 2020, committing to swift and decisive action including new duties on building owners and managers to provide information to fire and rescue services, install premises information boxes, conduct regular inspections of lifts and fire doors, and equip buildings with evacuation signal facilities. The government stated it had already taken action in advance of the report and was actively looking beyond the remit of these recommendations.
UK Government · 21 Jan 2020 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 26 Feb 2025 Status for fire and rescue services: complete. All 43 fire and rescue services have completed training on evacuation policies. Status for London Fire Brigade: complete. Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.