NEWS Review criticised as councils receive outline
THE REVIEW into building regulations under Dame Judith Hackitt has been criticised by parties ‘excluded’ from meetings, and others stating it ‘lacks transparency’.
MPs on the Communities and
Local Government Committee had expressed fears that post Grenfell fire safety concerns had been ‘dismissed’, and Belfast Telegraph and Yahoo! have reported on differing criticisms, experts stating that they have been ‘excluded from Grenfell meetings’, and that while ‘broadly supportive’ of the review, they have ‘some concerns’. Among those denied places are
the Grenfell Fire Forum – set up to prevent a ‘similar disaster’, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fire Safety, and the Fire Sector Federation (FSF). Khadijah Mamudu, whose mother and young brother escaped from the fire, said the community felt ‘abandoned’. She co founded the forum and noted that it had ‘been unable to participate’ in meetings. She added at a House of Lord
event from the APPG and FSF: ‘We all know mistakes were made. If they weren’t made, the fire wouldn’t have happened. But the community feels abandoned. The reason why they feel abandoned is we all know mistakes were made, but nobody’s owning up to it. Everywhere we turn … we feel that people are covering things up. We could be wrong but that’s how we feel. ‘We feel abandoned by the
inquiry, by the Government, by the Hackitt review. I can’t get the forum on to the Hackitt review, nor experts from this field [and] the Government will take time to come to the community, talk to us. The community need your help because we feel abandoned, and until we get the help that we need … we will not trust anyone.’ Brian Robinson, president of
the FSF, added: ‘Grenfell happened because over 15 years rules changed, approaches changed, attitudes changed, people could do things and get away with things that they couldn’t get away with before. But Grenfell isn’t the only building in this country that was in that position. We are just lucky that there hasn’t been
Andy Slaughter, chair and Hammersmith MP, called for ‘greater transparency’ and noted: ‘We have to have a much clearer remit from Government about what they’re trying to achieve, or we have to go in a fail-safe way and say we’re only going to use non-combustible materials.’ The government has also written
another Grenfell. And I don’t see any interim arrangements coming out of Hackitt that’s making the position any better.’ Sarah Kostense-Winterton,
executive director of the Mineral Wool Insulation Manufacturers Association (MIMA), noted it was ‘very frustrating’ that the organisation had been ‘shut out’ of working groups, and that they were ‘highly concerned’ about a lack of transparency and balance of representation, with only one seat compared to the combustible industry’s four. She said: ‘Cultural change takes
many years. It’s not taking weeks or months, it’s taking many years, and in that time we are actually exposing the public to unsafe buildings. We need to ensure we have a short and medium-term solution, and that solution is to ensure only non combustible products are in our high rise and high occupancy buildings.’ In turn, Yahoo! reported other
experts within the APPG had ‘heavily criticised’ the review, stating that it had ‘a lack of transparency and alleged conflicts of interest’. Ronnie King, the group’s secretary, stated: ‘We bid for six places on the working groups, of which some have 12 to 14 people on them, but the places were all taken.’ The news outlet added that group composition, agendas and minutes ‘are not being made public’, while a document sent to members seen by Sky News stated ‘discussions will be treated as confidential, and working groups should exercise discretion in how they share information outside the group’.
10 APRIL 2018
www.frmjournal.com
to council bosses ‘outlining their fire safety responsibilities’ after the interim report into building regulations. Safety and Health Practitioner reported on the letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The organisation’s deputy director of building regulations, Offer Stern- Weiner, wrote to chief executives recommending building control body consultations, as well as that fire services should take part ‘early’ in the process of ‘designing and commissioning new buildings’. This was said to have been ‘one
of the key recommendations’ in Dame Judith’s interim report, and the letter adds that ‘there is a need for building control bodies to do more to assure that fire safety information for a building is provided by the person carrying out the building work to the responsible person for the building in occupation. ‘Given the importance of such
information for on-going maintenance and fire risk assessment, proof should be sought that it has been transferred’. It continues by noting that
building developers need to ensure that a ‘formal review and handover process’ takes place before any area of a new high rise residential building is occupied. The letter concluded: ‘Whilst responsibility for compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations rests with the person carrying out the work, in light of Dame Judith’s recommendations, the Department is keen to support building control bodies in carrying out their statutory functions to consult with fire and rescue authorities and ensure a handover of fire safety information. ‘These are essential requirements
for delivering safe building within the current regulatory framework.’
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