Home Office written question – answered at on 16 July 2021.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the relative safety of the use of (a) waking watch fire patrols and (b) professionally installed fire alarm systems in buildings with unsafe building materials.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what regulation is in place to oversee companies offering waking watch fire patrols in buildings with unsafe cladding materials.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds information on businesses providing waking watch services in buildings with unsafe cladding materials.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that local authorities have access to a list of approved providers of waking watch fire patrol.
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the FSO), the Responsible Person for each building is required to ensure appropriate fire safety measures are in place within their building. If a responsible person uses a waking watch as part of a wider building fire safety strategy to mitigate the risks in a particular building, as informed by a fire risk assessment, it is for them to ensure its adequacy.
The Government and NFCC make available guidance to support those responsible in complying with the FSO and ensuring their premises remain safe for continued use but does not monitor service providers. The National Fire Chiefs Council has recently revised its Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance which reflects best practice and can be located at https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Simultaneous-evacuation-guidance.
This guidance encourages greater use of more cost-effective measures such as alarm systems to replace or reduce dependency on waking watch wherever possible.
Local fire and rescue authorities and other enforcers of the FSO can take action where the fire safety measures fall short of compliance.
Yes1 person thinks so
No0 people think not
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