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Councils hit back at PM over sprinkler claims
Two London boroughs cited by Theresa May as evidence that not all councils want sprinklers have previously contacted government to ask for financial help retrofitting them in their blocks.
At Prime Minister’s Questions today, Ms May cited four Labour councils which she implied have been unsupportive of installing sprinkler systems.
She was responding to a call from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for the government to fund sprinklers in all high-rise social housing blocks.
She said: “Perhaps [Mr Corbyn] should look at what Labour councils have said about this. Haringey Council rejected calls to fit sprinklers, saying what matters is introducing the right safety measures.
“Lewisham Council say they need to weigh up the issues because fitting sprinklers can involve cutting through fire compartmentation – another safety measure – while Lambeth Council said there are issues retrofitting sprinklers and questions about how effective they are and even Islington Council say they need to look at how effective sprinklers would be.”
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But all of the councils mentioned have told Inside Housing that they dispute her remarks.
Both Lambeth Council and Lewisham Council wrote to communities secretary Sajid Javid in August to request financial support for the retrofitting of sprinklers, among other fire safety works.
A spokesperson for Lambeth Council said: “The prime minister’s remarks regarding Lambeth Council and the retrofitting of sprinklers in residential tower blocks is not reflective of the council’s position on this issue.”
He said the authority is yet to receive a response to its funding request.
Lewisham Council said its ALMO, Lewisham Homes, is carrying out “a full and intrusive review” of all of its tower blocks, including assessing whether new sprinklers are needed.
A report being presented to the council’s cabinet tonight notes that Lewisham Homes is carrying out fire risk assessments in its blocks, which “will involve testing of blocks to ensure that compartmentalisation is fully retained” – but it makes no suggestion that sprinklers would compromise fire-stopping.
Lewisham already has a £500,000 sprinkler installation programme in place for its sheltered housing schemes.
Islington Council also took issue with the prime minister’s comments.
A spokesperson said: “Ms May’s comments do not paint the full picture. Islington Council is actively looking into the effectiveness of fitting sprinklers in the borough’s council tower blocks.”
And a spokesperson for Haringey Council said: “We have not ’ruled out’ sprinklers, or any other measures. What we’ve said is that sprinklers need to be considered as part of a wider approach to a range of possible safety measures.
“There are other measures, including new risers, different alarm systems and fire escapes, which must be considered in the round, not individually. Once we know more about the guidance or regulations that emerge from the Grenfell investigation, we can look carefully at which measures might be necessary on a block-by-block basis.”
In July, Mr Javid was forced to admit he was “not aware” that councils had asked for financial help with fire safety works after falsely telling parliament that none had contacted his department with requests.
At least five councils had contacted the government to ask for funding at that stage.
Update: at 11:41, 17/11/17. A quote from Haringey Council was added to the story.
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.
