The Fire Safety Bill is a government bill, and forms part of the Government’s response to the Grenfell fire. It seeks to clarify the scope of the Fire Safety Order 2005, specifically to ensure that the responsible person or duty-holder for multi-occupied, residential buildings must manage and reduce the risk of fire for the structure and external walls of the building, including cladding, balconies and windows; and for entrance doors to individual flats that open into common parts.
Fire Safety Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (277 KB , PDF)
On 14 June 2017, a fire broke out at Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey residential housing block in North Kensington, London. The subsequent blaze led to the deaths of 72 people. The Fire Safety Bill 2019-21 forms part of the Government’s response to the Grenfell tragedy. It is among a range of measures intended to reform building and fire safety to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again.
Specifically, the Fire Safety Bill will amend the Fire Safety Order 2005 to clarify that the responsible person or duty-holder for multi-occupied, residential buildings must manage and reduce the risk of fire for:
The Government contends such measures will empower fire and rescue services to take enforcement action and hold building owners to account if they are not compliant. The Government is also currently undertaking a consultation on the Fire Safety Order 2005, due to conclude in October 2020. The results of that exercise will be taken forward via a process separate to the Fire Safety Bill 2019-21. These are likely to include provisions in the Building Safety Bill (currently published in draft); amendments to the Fire Safety Order; amendments to Building Regulations; and through updated guidance.
The Fire Safety Bill is short, containing only two substantive clauses (though it does include regulation-making powers). It has completed its passage through the House of Commons, where opposition parties were broadly supportive of the legislation. However, opposition amendments were proposed at both committee and report stages aimed at encouraging the Government to move further and faster with the implementation of the Grenfell Public Inquiry Phase 1 report recommendations; on the issue of the availability of qualified fire risk assessors; the prioritisation of inspections; and on liability for interim and remedial fire safety measures such as waking watches patrolling at-risk premises. No amendments were made to the bill at either stage.
Fire Safety Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (277 KB , PDF)
The importance of social cohesion and strong communities has often been discussed in the context of international events which have increased tensions between groups in the UK. This briefing examines what is meant by social cohesion, provides an overview of recent reports on social cohesion and communities, and sets out recent government statements on its policies to address concerns about social cohesion.
Homelessness and housing sector commentators argue that there is an undersupply of affordable housing, which they suggest is a key driver of homelessness. Successive governments have sought to address the issue of homelessness in part by increasing the supply of affordable homes and improving the quality of existing accommodation. The current government’s new taskforce on homelessness says it will seek to increase the supply and security of housing.
Reported retail crime has increased significantly in recent years. This criminal activity, encompassing offences such as shoplifting and assaults on retail workers, has impacted businesses, their employees and local economies. The government has outlined plans to tackle retail crime in response to this issue. This includes legislating to create a new specific offence of assaulting a retail worker and to remove the threshold on so-called “low-value” shoplifting offences.
