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Fire risks revealed in government office responsible for fire safety
The government department responsible for fire safety has risk failings in its own headquarters, Inside Housing can reveal.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Inside Housing obtained a copy of the most recent fire risk assessment for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) headquarters on Marsham Street in London. This building is shared with the Home Office, which has responsibility for fire safety.
The DCLG sent a heavily redacted version of the assessment, which was carried out in February this year.
The department has been leading work urging social landlords to carry out checks of their buildings.
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Although the assessor judged there was a “low” risk of harm in the building, several areas of concern were flagged, including a lack of suitable fire separation in the building, fire doors that were either not installed or not in a good condition, and no emergency action plan communicated to the relevant staff. The assessor said one urgent action, the details of which were redacted, should be tackled within 24 hours.
The assessment also stated the building’s fire strategy was out of date but a spokesperson for the Home Office said this was incorrect.
Nine months after the assessment was carried out “defective” doors have still not been replaced. A spokesperson said this work is currently being carried out with CCTV monitoring the affected area of the building.
Other areas of concern flagged were “high-risk” areas in the building which were not clear of combustible items and portable appliances that had not been tested within the necessary time frames.
Large parts of the fire risk assessment have been redacted because the government said the information might “prejudice the security of a sensitive government building”.
The building is owned by Annes Gate Property and the Home Office, and the DCLG are tenants of the building. The latest financial accounts filed for Annes Gate Property state its “principal activity” is the “finance, design and construction, refurbishment and partial construction” of the government building under a private finance initiative (PFI).
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “The fire risk assessment stated the overall risk of harm as ‘low’ within the report, and it is usual for assessors to identify areas for improvement.
“Upon receiving the report, a fire risk assessment management action plan was created and all but one action put forward in the report has been put in place.
“The outstanding action – replacing the defective doors – is currently being carried out by Bouygues. In the meantime, Bouygues is managing the risk with CCTV monitoring the affected area of the building at all times.”
