Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to hold chief officers of police to account for the appropriate vetting of adverse information on police recruits regarding (1) security, (2) public safety, and (3) the confidence of the community.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Police forces carry out their vetting independently of government and in line with the College of Policing’s vetting code of practice and vetting authorised professional practice (APP) guidance, which are both continually reviewed. The code sets out the role that a thorough and effective vetting regime has in helping to ensure public trust and confidence in those working in policing.
The College’s most recent code, published in July 2023, sets out how adverse information should be considered in vetting decisions, as well as provides a number of requirements on chief officers, including the need to assess the risks posed by the individual undergoing vetting both to the public and the police service.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) hold forces to account by routinely carry out independent inspections of forces’ effectiveness and efficiency, which include assessments on vetting. The inspectorate has recently set up a new rolling inspection programme on integrity which will look at the work of professional standards units alongside force vetting and counter-corruption arrangements.
The government is supporting policing by creating a statutory requirement for officers to hold and maintain vetting clearance, as well as creating a new set of regulations which will govern how those who fail vetting can be dismissed. In January this year, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) also published outcomes from its exercise ensuring all officers and staff were checked against the Police National Database (PND).
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reallocating any underspend from the (a) Waking Watch Relief Fund and (b) Waking Watch Replacement Funds to support (i) sprinkler installation and (ii) other relevant steps where professional risk assessments deem them to be essential to mitigate life safety risks.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department regularly engages with all fund applicants, local and regional authorities, where they are responsible for administering awarded grant funding, and local Fire and Rescue Services following a successful application to the fund, to drive pace on the installation of fire alarms and the subsequent standing down of a waking watch.
Over £80 million has been made available to applications to install alarms. The schemes have operated on a first come first served basis, and all successful applications have been awarded grant funding.
Of the 25 residential buildings that have received funding under the Waking Watch Relief Fund that are yet to install alarms, all of these are being administered by Greater Manchester Combined Authority and they have the lead responsibility for resolving these issues. On 17 of these 25, we have been advised by Greater Manchester Combined Authority that installations have been completed but we are awaiting further assurance before we can formally update the application status. For a further seven, we are waiting updates of the exact status despite departmental officials seeking an update. On the final case, we are working alongside the Authority to resolve a specific situation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Building Safety Remediation data published by his Department on 22 February 2024, whether he has taken steps in relation to the 25 residential buildings that received Government funding under the (a) Waking Watch Relief Fund in 2021 and (b) Waking Watch Replacement Fund in 2022 that have not yet installed alarm systems.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department regularly engages with all fund applicants, local and regional authorities, where they are responsible for administering awarded grant funding, and local Fire and Rescue Services following a successful application to the fund, to drive pace on the installation of fire alarms and the subsequent standing down of a waking watch.
Over £80 million has been made available to applications to install alarms. The schemes have operated on a first come first served basis, and all successful applications have been awarded grant funding.
Of the 25 residential buildings that have received funding under the Waking Watch Relief Fund that are yet to install alarms, all of these are being administered by Greater Manchester Combined Authority and they have the lead responsibility for resolving these issues. On 17 of these 25, we have been advised by Greater Manchester Combined Authority that installations have been completed but we are awaiting further assurance before we can formally update the application status. For a further seven, we are waiting updates of the exact status despite departmental officials seeking an update. On the final case, we are working alongside the Authority to resolve a specific situation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution of 26 March 2024 by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, Official Report, column 1414, how many building owners his Department has identified in the reducing core of building owners who continue to hold up remediation; and how many buildings such owners own.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We track the progress of buildings and make this publicly available here: Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - February 2024 - GOV.UK.
We have also made public the corporate entities responsible for the remaining buildings with the most dangerous cladding that have yet to start on site at: Aluminium composite material cladding - GOV.UK , and update this list periodically.
It is important that building owners fulfil their building safety responsibilities and where they do not that they are held to account. As I reiterated to the house on 26th March, and in a joint statement with building safety bodies, where building owners are stalling, they can expect to be subject to enforcement action by a local authority, fire and rescue service or the Building Safety Regulator.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution of 26 March 2024 by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, Official Report, column 1414, whether his Department plans to publish a list of building owners who continue to hold up remediation.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We track the progress of buildings and make this publicly available here: Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - February 2024 - GOV.UK.
We have also made public the corporate entities responsible for the remaining buildings with the most dangerous cladding that have yet to start on site at: Aluminium composite material cladding - GOV.UK , and update this list periodically.
It is important that building owners fulfil their building safety responsibilities and where they do not that they are held to account. As I reiterated to the house on 26th March, and in a joint statement with building safety bodies, where building owners are stalling, they can expect to be subject to enforcement action by a local authority, fire and rescue service or the Building Safety Regulator.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many residents have been displaced from their homes due to (a) building safety evacuations and (b) fires that have spread to more than one floor due to building safety defects since 15 June 2017.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Major decants are a local operational matter, and decisions on enforcement action are made by local regulators, local authorities and Fire and Rescue Services.
Where there are major decants, the department does offer support where appropriate, such as pressing building owners and developers to fulfil their obligations. Since December 2023 the department has assisted local regulators in preventing at least 800 residents from being decanted by identifying mitigating measures (such as a waking watch), allowing these residents to remain safely in their homes.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of (a) compliance with fire regulations by providers of small paying guest accommodation and (b) the numbers of fire assessors to ensure that compliance.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) is the main piece of fire safety legislation that applies to all non-domestic premises in England and Wales. The FSO places a legal duty on Responsible Persons (RPs) to undertake a fire risk assessment and put in place a suitable set of fire safety precautions to ensure the safety of those who use the premises.
Fire and Rescue Authorities are the main enforcement body for the FSO. Each FRA is required to deliver an independent annual risk-based inspection programme to check the compliance of premises in their area.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his planned timetable is for implementing (a) all outstanding recommendations and (b) the outstanding recommendations related to the safety of disabled residents in high-rise buildings in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase one report.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to delivering against the recommendations made in the Grenfell Tower Phase 1 report.
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, delivering the majority of the recommendations to Government, have now come into force, and most recently we have published guidelines to the Fire and Rescue Service to support their role in evacuation, meeting a further Inquiry recommendation.
The remaining four recommendations to Government concern evacuation. Three of these are addressed in the proposals in the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus consultation, and for the fourth, concerning evacuation alert systems, this has been met for new high rise residential buildings, and the Home Office is undertaking further work regarding existing buildings, including developing an evidence base of existing evacuation alert systems.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many deaths have been caused by dangerous or counterfeit e-bike chargers in each of the last nine years.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Product Safety Standards (OPSS) is aware of three fatalities in 2022 and 11 fatalities in 2023 from fires related to e-bikes, lithium-ion batteries or chargers. This is drawn from data supplied by UK fire and rescue services, shared with OPSS. Incidents are complex as often multiple products are involved that can be safe and compliant when used individually, but become unsafe when used in combination.
Lithium-ion battery fires involving e-bikes can cause catastrophic damage to property, it is not always possible to identify whether products involved were unsafe, counterfeit or non-compliant given the damage they can sustain.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of consulting with fire safety stakeholders on the creation of UK-wide response standards in fire and rescue services.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Government supports the continuous improvement of fire and rescue services and established a sector led Fire Standards Board that develops professional standards for the sector. The suite of professional standards created by the Fire Standards Board includes strategic standards on operational preparedness and operational competence.
The Fire Standards Board consult widely on each of their standards prior to publication.
Decisions on how their resources, including staff, are best deployed to meet their core functions including crewing and meeting response times, is a matter for each fire and rescue authority, based on risks identified within local Community Risk Management Plans.