COMMENT 17 THE SOCIAL NETWORK


Patrick Mooney, managing director at Mooney Thompson Consulting


WHAT SHOULD WE MAKE OF THE POST- GRENFELL REACTION?


Patrick Mooney looks at the reaction so far across industry and government to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, in the context of inaction since the Lakanal House fire before it, and the continuing questions over safety.


T


here are lots of things we can do to address safety concerns in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster


without waiting for the public inquiry or the independent review of Building Regulations to report on them. Many of these are practical things that can and need to be done urgently for the benefit of worried residents and concerned landlords.


At the end of July the Government


announced that a review of Building Regulations and fire safety was to take place, but the report- ing timescale means we will not see its initial findings until November or December at the earliest. It is unlikely that tenants will be comfortable with the timescale of the official response, and they will understandably demand meaningful actions to safeguard their lives and homes before the year ends. Arguably, the review to be led by Dame


MORE THAN 80 OCCUPIED TOWER BLOCKS FAILED THE COMBINED CLADDING AND FOAM INSULATION FIRE TEST


Judith Hackitt is taking place eight years too late, as it should have happened in the wake of the Lakanal House fire in Southwark in 2009, rather than after the Grenfell Tower fire in June this year. Belatedly this new review does at least appear to meet the brief set by the Lakanal coroner, given the review’s particular focus on high-rise residential buildings. Without even a hint of irony, the


Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said it was clear Building Regulations and fire safety standards need to be examined urgently. “This review will ensure we can swiftly make any necessary improvements. Government is deter- mined to make sure we learn the lessons from Grenfell Tower fire and ensure nothing like it can happen again.” But John Healey, the Shadow Housing


Secretary, was surely speaking for many people when he criticised the testing programme for being confused and slow. “It has taken more than six weeks since the Grenfell Tower fire for


the Government to release test results of just 82 of the 4,000 tower blocks around the country,” he said. “Landlords still can’t get other types of cladding tested and ministers still can’t say how many high-rise blocks are unsafe.” Healey called for the Government to expand the testing programme and publish the results in full.


CROSS SECTOR Dozens of residential tower blocks across the country spent much of the summer with exposed insulation and in some cases a patchwork of cladding on them, while residents and owners anxiously waited for guidance and reassurance from the Government. With more than 80 occupied tower blocks


failing the combined cladding and foam insulation fire test, the housing sector needs a sharpened, visible focus on ensuring the safety of residents in the short term, before major works like the installation of water sprinkler systems can begin. The problem of what to do now affects the whole housing sector as it was revealed 47 of the blocks to fail the tests are owned by local authorities and housing associations. That means at least another 35 blocks are owned by other organisations, including private landlords. While the brief for the Hackitt review is to


focus on building regulations and fire safety, there are things we in the housing sector can urgently do ourselves to restore tenants’ confidence and safety, namely to: • Review and clarify the guidance given to tenants on what to do in the event of a fire breaking out.


• Identify funds and other resources for essential safety works and building modifications to be undertaken.


• Test the adequacy of fire risk assessments currently in use and make changes to the testing regime on a ‘quick wins’ basis, that do


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