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Corbyn calls on Treasury to fund sprinkler retrofit
Labour is calling on the government to set aside £1bn in the Budget to fund the retrofitting of sprinklers in all high rises owned by councils or housing associations.
Jeremy Corbyn, the party leader, will make a speech later today calling on chancellor Philip Hammond to act to prevent a repeat of the Grenfell tragedy.
The Labour leader will cite BBC research which shows sprinklers are fitted in just 2% of council and housing association blocks nationwide.
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Inside Housing’s fire safety campaign, Never Again, has been calling on the government to fund the retrofitting of sprinklers in high rises.
So far however, it has refused to provide cash. In September housing minister Alok Sharma wrote to Nottingham City Council refusing to provide £6m for 13 tower blocks and saying sprinklers were “additional, not essential”, in a letter leaked to Inside Housing.
In 2013 the coroner investigating the deadly Lakanal House fire told the government to encourage councils to fit sprinklers in social housing blocks.
A number of councils and housing associations have begun a retrofitting programme since Grenfell, funding the work through their own resources. But for councils, which are limited by borrowing caps, this is particularly difficult.
“The Grenfell Tower fire was an entirely avoidable human disaster that must not be repeated.”
“Sprinklers save lives, which is why the government should set aside the money to fit them into tower blocks across the country.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: “Nothing is more important than keeping people safe. We have asked Dame Judith Hackitt to carry out an Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, and we await her findings with interest.
“We’ve been clear that where a local authority has concerns about funding essential fire safety measures, they should contact us as soon as possible to discuss their position.”
Never Again campaign
Inside Housing has launched a campaign to improve fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire
Never Again: campaign asks
Inside Housing is calling for immediate action to implement the learning from the Lakanal House fire, and a commitment to act – without delay – on learning from the Grenfell Tower tragedy as it becomes available.
LANDLORDS
- Take immediate action to check cladding and external panels on tower blocks and take prompt, appropriate action to remedy any problems
- Update risk assessments using an appropriate, qualified expert.
- Commit to renewing assessments annually and after major repair or cladding work is carried out
- Review and update evacuation policies and ‘stay put’ advice in light of risk assessments, and communicate clearly to residents
GOVERNMENT
- Provide urgent advice on the installation and upkeep of external insulation
- Update and clarify building regulations immediately – with a commitment to update if additional learning emerges at a later date from the Grenfell inquiry
- Fund the retrofitting of sprinkler systems in all tower blocks across the UK (except where there are specific structural reasons not to do so)
We will submit evidence from our research to the Grenfell public inquiry.
The inquiry should look at why opportunities to implement learning that could have prevented the fire were missed, in order to ensure similar opportunities are acted on in the future.
