Tag: fire safety

Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill: Bishop of Lincoln supports amendments on building and fire safety regulations

On 1st May 2024, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Leasehold and Freedom Reform Bill. On behalf of the Bishop of Manchester, the Bishop of Lincoln spoke in support of amendments tabled by Lord Young of Cookham, aimed at improving accountability of fire and building safety procedures and remediation:

The Lord Bishop of Lincoln: My Lords, I stand to support the amendments in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham. My right reverend friend the Bishop of Manchester has put his name to the amendments and regrets that he cannot be in his place today. As we have heard, the Building Safety Act 2022 contained welcome measures to address historic building safety defects, but the fact remains, as other noble Lords have noted, that it does not go nearly far enough. Seven years on from the Grenfell fire, only 21% of high-rise blocks have been fully remediated—and they are the ones that are eligible; there remain gaps in provision where leaseholders are disqualified for such arbitrary reasons as their block being 10.9 metres tall rather than, say, 11.1. The Act disqualifies huge numbers of people who are now trapped in potentially unsafe flats which they will struggle to sell. They might face very high bills through service charges and insurance premiums.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about fires caused by sky lanterns

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on Tuesday 31st January 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 13 December 2022 (HL3856), whether they can provide an itemised table from the Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) that details how many incidents where sky lanterns have been confirmed as the source of a fire.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about fire safety of sky lanterns

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 13th December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government whether they will list all incidents of fires having been caused by sky lanterns in the last five years.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con): Data collected through the Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS) does not include data on whether fire incidents attended were caused by or involved sky lanterns.

The Home Office collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs), with this data including the cause of the fire and the source of ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications, available at Gov.UK.

Hansard

Bishop of St Albans asks questions about support for those facing cost of fire safety remedial work

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer to four questions on 14th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: asked Her Majesty’s Government:

what plans they have to provide low-interest long term loans to non-qualifying buy-to-lent landlords with more than two leasehold properties who are unable to afford fire safety remedial costs.

what assessment they have made of the number of non-qualifying buy-to-let landlords with two or more leasehold properties who will go bankrupt due to being unable to afford fire safety remedial work.

what assessment they have made of the number of non-qualifying buy-to-let landlords with more than two leasehold properties who (1) are unable to sell their properties, and (2) are unable to afford the fire safety remedial work.

what assistance they plan to provide to non-qualifying buy-to-let landlords with more than two leasehold properties who (1) are unable to sell their properties, and (2) are unable to afford the fire safety remedial work.

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Votes: Building Safety Bill

On 29th March 2022, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Building Safety Bill. There were votes held on several amendments, in which Bishops took part.

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Bishop of Leeds asks about environmental consequences of increased use of lithium ion batteries

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question about plans for disposal of lithium ion batteries as more of them come to be used in e-bikes and scooters, during a debate on safety standards on 3rd March 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, however these things are regulated, we are building up a massive resource of batteries that one day will have to be disposed of, with the environmental risks that they bring as well. What assessment have the Government made of how in the long term we will deal with what could before too long become a problem?

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Building Safety Bill: Bishop of St Albans urges proportional approach

On 2nd March 2022, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Building Safety Bill in Grand Committee. The Bishop of St Albans spoke in favour of a proportional approach to new safety regulations, balancing the need for remediation of risk with the potential effects on leaseholders:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I will add a few extra words to this. I apologise to the Committee; I am struggling, as I think a number of us are, as there are so many Bills going through that we are bobbing in and out of various Bills. It is frustrating for us that we cannot necessarily sit and follow everything through, but I think this probing amendment touches on some really important issues for us.

Not surprisingly, after the absolute horror of Grenfell, we are rightly trying to think about how we offer maximum safety for everybody. But safety comes at a cost, as we are all aware. As we work on a Bill that we hope will do its job for many years, we need to take an objective view on some of these areas, particularly on what the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, said about proportionality.

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Building Safety Bill: Bishop of St Albans tables amendment

On 28th February the House of Lords debated the Building Safety Bill in the 3rd day of committee. The Bishop of St Albans spoke in support of his amendment 50A, which aims to strengthen tenants rights to consult with landlords over building safety, and require landlords to set up tenants associations to facilitate this:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 50A in my name and those of the noble Lords, Lord Blencathra and Lord Young of Cookham. Let me say how much I support the sentiments and intentions of the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, who has done us a real service.

I, too, do not want to die over the details of this amendment. I hope that this will stimulate a really vigorous debate so that we can all work together on how we get these sorts of commitments in the Bill. I and others on my Benches want to work with the Government and others to achieve this. If someone else can turn up with much better solutions, that is great.

Throughout the cladding and fire safety crisis, we have heard many stories of landlords imposing outrageous and sometimes astronomical building safety charges on leaseholders and tenants. Often this has been done by managing agents acting on behalf of the freeholder. Leaseholders and tenants have reported a complete lack of accountability and transparency throughout this process and have been unable to challenge or even scrutinise the charges imposed on them.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about grants for installation of sprinkler systems in buildings

Following a government statement on building safety on 11th January 2022, the Bishop of St Albans asked a question on whether the government would fund the installation of sprinkler systems in taller buildings:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, the Secretary of State announced an additional £27 million for fire alarms. Are similar grants being considered for installing sprinklers in buildings over 11 metres?

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Bishop of London speaks on need to improve housing standards in the UK

The Bishop of London spoke in a debate following a motion to take note: “That this House takes note of the situation of leaseholders who are facing substantial bills for fire and building safety remediation work; and of the need for safe, green and affordable housing” tabled on 4th November 2021, arguing for greater protection to leaseholders:

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Stunell, for securing this debate, and I thank the noble Lord who will speak after me. It has been four years, four months and 20 days since the Grenfell Tower fire. On the 14th day of every month, Grenfell survivors and their loved ones walk around the remains of Grenfell Tower to signal that they are yet to receive justice for what has happened.

Many in the other place allowed the Fire Safety Bill to pass on the promise that the issues relating to the remediation of unsafe buildings would be dealt with comprehensively and thoroughly in the Building Safety Bill. However, the Bill has just completed Committee in the other place and the Government have yet to set out how they intend to deal with the unaffordable costs faced by leaseholders for interim safety measures and the remediation of unsafe buildings.

The Government’s reannouncement of £5 billion for the removal of unsafe cladding only raised concerns for those affected. The Red Book notes that £3 billion will be spent over the spending review period up to the end of March 2025. Can the Minister tell the House when he expects all dangerous cladding will have been removed?

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