Report of the Assistant Chief Fire Officer

The Panel considered the report of the Assistant Chief Fire Officer which provided background information to Members on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry (GTI) Phase 1 Report, along with an outline of the corresponding action plan for East Sussex Fire and Rescue to the recommendations within that report. (Copy in Minute Book)

Councillor Lambert, the Authority’s appointed representative on the Local Government Association (LGA) Fire Commission, provided feedback based on discussions regarding the Inquiry Phase 1 report at the Fire Commission meeting she had attended on 24 January 2020:

·         The Fire Commission agreed with the LGA’s critique of the phasing of the inquiry (i.e. examining the response to the fire before its causes).

·         The Fire Commission strongly advocated the installation of sprinklers and Cllr Lambert urged the Service to continue its work in this area.

·         In terms of the Government’s proposal to introduce a Fire Safety Bill (and Building Safety Bill) and reform around the system of buildings safety, there was recognition that local authorities would need more investment in building control officers to ensure that buildings are inspected regularly.

·         Fire and Rescue Services should be a statutory consultee on planning applications in order for their comments to carry more weight.

Members discussed the feedback from Councillor Lambert. There was agreement with the notion of Fire and Rescue Services being statutory consultees on planning applications, and that the areas of building control and inspection needed more resources and regulation.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) explained that the Fire and Rescue sector had broadly welcomed the GTI Phase 1 Report. The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) was coordinating the fire national response to the Phase 1 Inquiry and part of that process had involved a questionnaire being sent to Fire and Rescue Services to determine what local actions were being taken in response to each of the recommendations. The report to the Panel aimed to reassure Members that officers had considered the recommendations and identified those that were relevant to the Service. The Service’s corresponding action plan was detailed and lengthy and would be consolidated into a meaningful document and brought back to the Panel.

Members raised general concerns around the risks of building high rise blocks with one staircase and no alternative means of escape, and also sought assurances that the Service’s Incident Command Officers had responsibility to adapt and deviate from pre-determined evacuation strategies (such as the ‘stay put’ policy). The ACFO explained that since the 1960s it was commonplace to see single staircase high rise concrete blocks. It was noted that the stay put policy was appropriate for those buildings at the time they were designed and built. The ACFO advised that through the Better Homes agenda those buildings were being adapted and only then were they potentially at risk. He explained it was a challenge and at the forefront of the recommendations from the Inquiry. He advised that those identified buildings in East Sussex had site-specific strategies in place. Officers were enabled to adapt the operational approach, using operational discretion. Members were reminded that the Service’s 2020-2025 Integrated Risk Management Plan was an important piece of work in terms of prevention and protection implications, alongside the ongoing work by the Assistant Director Safer Communities and his team on home safety visits and working with landlords regarding the installation of sprinklers.

The Panel noted the NFCC’s ongoing work to address the Inquiry’s Phase 1 findings, and in light of this Members felt it would be prudent to bring to the attention of the Chief Fire Officer the Panel’s key observations from their discussions, as follows:

-       That Fire and Rescue Services be a statutory consultee on local authority planning applications, particularly for new builds.

-       The need for more investment in local authority building control officers; ensuring officers were properly trained, regulated and carried out regular inspections.

RESOLVED: That the Panel –

a)    Noted the report;

b)    Directed officers to continue with the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service Grenfell Action Plan in order to effectively respond to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 1 recommendations; and

c)    Requested that the key observations of the Panel, as summarised in the above Minute, be noted by the Chief Fire Officer in the context of the National Fire Chiefs Council ongoing work to address the Inquiry’s findings.