Basingstoke MP Maria Miller has welcomed the recommendations regarding better fire safety information for residents in high rise residential buildings, contained in Dame Judith Hackitt’s Final Report of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, published on 17 May.
Maria previously introduced a Bill in Parliament on 20 March 2018, requiring residents of high rise buildings to be provided with more information about the fire safety of their buildings, to have access to the annual fire risk assessment and to have an annual meeting with the “responsible person” to address any fire safety concerns.
Dame Judith’s Report addresses information for residents in detail. The Report calls for a “dutyholder” to be appointed for every high rise building, who in turn will nominate a “building safety manager” with relevant skills, knowledge and expertise to be responsible for the day-to-day management of the building and act as a point of contact for residents. The name and contact details of both people will have to be displayed within the building.
The dutyholder will be required to develop and maintain a resident engagement strategy, and provide residents with a comprehensive set of critical information, including a clear evaluation of the safety case, which indicates how safe the building is, and a summary of the most recent fire risk assessment (with a right of access to more detailed information should they wish). The outcome of the safety case should be translated into a “safety rating” for the building, which will allow residents to benchmark the safety of their building against others, and incentivise the dutyholder to quickly bring about improvements where required. Residents will also be provided with a clear process for raising any concerns about fire safety.
Maria said: “Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy I made enquiries about high rise residential buildings in Basingstoke, both in respect of physical safety and also about residents’ concerns. My focus was on the fact that residents did not feel they had enough information about the safety of their homes, and felt that the building owners and managers were not always transparent about risks highlighted in the fire risk assessment.”
“With regard to the need for greater transparency and information for residents, I am pleased to see these points addressed in detail in Dame Judith Hackitt’s Final Report. Residents deserve transparency of information about the safety of their homes, and I hope that the recommendations relating to this will be fully implemented. Indeed, the Housing Secretary has said in Parliament today that he agrees that residents must be empowered with relevant information.”
“More broadly, the Housing Secretary, James Brokenshire, has welcomed Dame Judith’s Report, and has said that the government agrees with her assessment, supports the principles behind the Report’s recommendations for a new system, and is committed to bringing forward legislation to bring about meaningful and lasting change.”