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
Government responseUK Government: Accepted (Jan 2020)
DeliveryHome Office says completed (Feb 2025)
Recommendation, 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
AI-generated evidence summary
In February 2025, the Home Office reported that this recommendation had been completed across England (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department stated in the same February 2025 update that a survey by the National Fire Chiefs Council confirmed every service had completed the necessary action on evacuation policies and training (Home Office, Feb 2025). It also recorded in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade had completed the recommendation after establishing its evacuation and rescue policy and training all operational personnel (Home Office, Feb 2025).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.
About this summary
Government response
●UK Government · Accepted · 21 Jan 2020
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.
Response document: Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report: Government response
Delivery
●Home Office says completed · 26 Feb 2025
Status for fire and rescue services: complete
In December 2019, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) published the reviewed guidance that provides information for fire and rescue services to change evacuation strategies and perform mass rescue, based on advice and information from fire and rescue service leads. This has undergone significant scrutiny and been subject to external review by health and safety consultants.
NFCC surveyed all fire and rescue services (with the exception of the LFB) in England about their progress against the recommendations. All services have completed the necessary action.
Status for London Fire Brigade: complete
The LFB has reported that recommendation 33.22b has been completed.
The LFB has developed an Evacuation and Rescue policy (published on 31 March 2021), alongside the revised Fire Survival Guidance policy. The Evacuation and Rescue policy has been shared with the NFCC’s High Rise Firefighting working group to support sector wide learning.
Training on the new policy has been provided to all operational staff via computer-based training packages and face to face training for Watch and senior officers. This training is reinforced by guided learning exercises for station-based staff.
From: Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, February 2025
Earlier statements on delivery (0)
●Home Office · 16 Sep 2024
Status for fire and rescue services: Complete
In December 2019, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) published the reviewed guidance that provides information for fire and rescue services to change evacuation strategies and perform mass rescue, based on advice and information from fire and rescue service leads. This has undergone significant scrutiny and been subject to external review by health and safety consultants.
NFCC surveyed all fire and rescue services (with the exception of the LFB) in England about their progress against the recommendations. All services have completed the necessary action.
Status for London Fire Brigade: Complete
The LFB has reported that recommendation 33.22b has been completed.
The LFB has developed an Evacuation and Rescue policy (published on 31 March 2021), alongside the revised Fire Survival Guidance policy. The Evacuation and Rescue policy has been shared with the NFCC’s High Rise Firefighting working group to support sector wide learning.
Training on the new policy has been provided to all operational staff via computer-based training packages and face to face training for Watch and senior officers. This training is reinforced by guided learning exercises for station-based staff.
From: Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, September 2024
●Home Office · 5 Feb 2024
Status for fire and rescue services: In progress
The full implementation of this policy is dependent on the completion of recommendation 33.22a, that the government develop national guidelines for carrying out partial or total evacuations of high-rise residential buildings, which is in progress.
In December 2019, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) published the reviewed guidance that provides information for fire and rescue services to change evacuation strategies and perform mass rescue, based on advice and information from fire and rescue service leads. This has undergone significant scrutiny and been subject to external review by health and safety consultants.
In October 2023, the NFCC surveyed all fire and rescue services (with the exception of the LFB) in England about their progress against the recommendations. In response to recommendation 33.22b:
95% of services (41 services) have completed the recommendation and have reported that they have reviewed their policies relating to evacuation, instigated changes, and trained personnel. This represents a 7% increase from previous NFCC survey completed in March 2023.
2% of services (one service) have reported they have made changes and trained staff but have not completed assessments. It is expected that this will be complete by December 2023
2% of services (one service) have made the necessary policy changes but are still training its staff. It is expected that this will be complete (including assessments) by April 2025.
On performing training exercises relating to evacuation:
95% of services (41 services) have trained and assessed all staff in evacuation policies since the Grenfell Tower fire and have conducted training exercises to embed learning from these policies.
5% of services (two services) have trained all staff but have not performed live exercises in a high-rise building.
Please refer to page 43 for further information on how the Government is seeking assurance on recommendations directed to fire and rescue services.
Status for London Fire Brigade: Complete
The LFB has reported that recommendation 33.22b has been completed.
The LFB has developed an Evacuation and Rescue policy (published on 31 March 2021), alongside the revised Fire Survival Guidance policy. The Evacuation and Rescue policy has been shared with the NFCC’s High Rise Firefighting working group to support sector wide learning.
Training on the new policy has been provided to all operational staff via computer-based training packages and face to face training for Watch and senior officers. This training is reinforced by guided learning exercises for station-based staff.
Please refer to page 41 for further information on how the Government is seeking assurance on recommendations directed to the LFB.
From: Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, February 2024
How this page is built
The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.