Briefings and responses

We welcome the steps that have been taken to date to address dangerous cladding and other fire safety issues, including the ban on combustible cladding. However, the Government needs to act with urgency to deliver protections for residents in dangerous buildings as quickly as possible.

The LGA believes the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing (EEIS+) proposal could form the basis of a useful backup to the requirement for Responsible Persons to identify residents who are unable to self-evacuate and make every reasonable adjustment to ensure that they can do so, through the provision of a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan.

We have followed the consultation in referring to sprinklers. However guidance and standards need to allow for the development of other automatic fire suppression system technologies.

The LGA welcomes the publication of Dame Judith Hackitt’s final report, and supports many of the recommendations in it

LGA Response to MHCLG consultation on banning the use of combustible materials in the external walls of high-rise residential buildings

We are not commenting on any feature other than the use of the FSO in relation to multi-occupancy high-rise buildings. Our responses contained below.

We welcome the introduction of the Fire Safety Act and the Building Safety Bill and hope they will be an important step in the right direction. We are however concerned about some of the practicalities of the implementation of new fire safety legislation for both resident safety and local authorities.

We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Government’s Reforming our Fire and Rescue Service White Paper.

The Grenfell Tower fire has exposed the inadequacy of the system by which assurance is provided that cladding systems are safe.

We welcome the introduction of the Fire Safety Bill (FSB) and hope it will be an important step in the right direction. We are concerned about some of the practicalities of the Bill, how it aligns with the building safety proposals the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is preparing, and the costs it may impose on councils and other building owners.