Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the role of the fire safety review, called for in his letter of the 18 November 2019 to vice chancellors, in the evacuation of the Paragon student accommodation in October 2020.

The safety of students and staff across the education estate remains Ministers' highest priority. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, received a 100% response from higher education (HE) institutions following his letter of 18 November 2019, which asked them to review their fire safety arrangements.

HE institutions are autonomous bodies and they are responsible for the buildings they own. We expect them to take into account the latest building safety guidance for owners of multi-storey, residential buildings published on 20 January this year by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

The evacuation of the student accommodation owned by Paragon was co-ordinated by the building owners with the relevant universities. Students were moved quickly to new accommodation, and the process was monitored by departmental officials.

The department has received a copy of a report on the cause of the fire at The Cube. Further action is for the local authorities. Department officials continue to work closely with their MHCLG counterparts to ensure action is taken across the education estate, including in response to the January guidance, as part of cross government work on fire safety working with the sector and local authorities.