Baroness Williams of Trafford
Main Page: Baroness Williams of Trafford (Conservative - Life peer)Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015
Baroness Williams of Trafford Excerpts
Baroness Williams of Trafford
That the draft regulations laid before the House on 16 March be approved.
Relevant documents: 1st Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, 2nd Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (Special attention drawn to the instrument)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)
My Lords, the draft regulations will require private sector landlords, from 1 October 2015, to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every storey of their rental property which is used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation where solid fuel is used. After that, the landlord must make sure that the alarms are in working order at the start of each new tenancy. The regulations have been brought before this House because the Government want to increase the safety of private sector tenants. Setting a minimum standard for the testing and installation of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms will reduce the risks that tenants face from fire and carbon monoxide poisoning in the home. We estimate that the new regulations will save 26 lives and nearly 700 injuries per year.
Local authorities will be responsible for enforcing the regulations. An authority will be required to issue a remedial notice to a landlord if they have reasonable grounds to believe that they are in breach. If the landlord fails to comply with the notice the local housing authority must, if the occupier consents, arrange the necessary action to ensure that the property is compliant. The local authority can also levy a civil penalty charge of up to £5,000 on the landlord. The levying of a penalty by a local authority is a last resort in the enforcement process. The landlord will have 28 days to achieve compliance where a remedial notice is served. If they comply within that period, no fine can be levied. The regulations aim to save lives and not catch landlords out.
I want to respond to concerns about a lack of publicity to make landlords aware of the regulations coming into force. The report by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee asked the department to raise awareness of the new draft regulations in good time for the planned commencement date of 1 October 2015. We have done this. The regulations were announced in two departmental press releases in March, giving more than six months’ notice before the planned commencement date. A comprehensive awareness campaign about the regulations, co-ordinated by the Chief Fire Officers Association, also ran from May to July and is estimated to have reached more than 8 million people. All 46 fire and rescue authorities raised awareness of free alarms available for distribution to landlords through various methods such as press releases, information on their websites and social media.
The department also published two explanatory booklets, one for landlords and one for local authorities, on the GOV.UK website on 4 September to provide helpful information to landlords in understanding and complying with the regulations. Nothing new is introduced; the requirements of the draft regulations are simply explained. I acknowledge that the timing of the parliamentary debates means that there is a short period between scrutiny and the regulations coming into force but the debates as scheduled are the earliest allowed by the parliamentary timetable.
Successive Governments and local fire and rescue authorities have made extensive use of non-regulatory approaches to increase the uptake of smoke alarms, including a series of highly effective public campaigns, such as “Fire Kills”, and home fire safety checks. I would add here that the “Alarms4Life” campaign stated the date as being in October. However, private rented sector tenants remain less likely to be protected by a working smoke alarm than any other tenants. The department has also piloted alternatives to regulative approaches to increase the installation of carbon monoxide alarms. However, there are still high-risk properties without these alarms installed.
The majority of landlords act responsibly and protect their tenants with working alarms. However, a minority of private sector landlords have proved resistant to safety advice and recommended best practice. That is why the Government decided that it was necessary to introduce the draft regulations to protect the tenants of these landlords. A regulatory approach to the installation of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms was discussed as part of the Government’s discussion paper, Review of Property Conditions in the Private Rented Sector, and the majority of responses were in favour. The regulations aim to increase the safety of tenants by ensuring that they are not subject to death, poisoning or injury by a lack of smoke or carbon monoxide warning alarms. The Government have funded local fire and rescue authorities to purchase a number of alarms for free distribution to landlords, encouraging all landlords to act responsibly towards their tenants as well as helping them comply with the regulations.
At this point, perhaps I might correct a comment that I made in the previous debate on a question about Airbnb from the noble Lord, Lord Beecham. I said that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 did not apply to Airbnb accommodation. The order applies to houses or flats where the premises are not occupied as a private dwelling; therefore, in the case of Airbnb, we consider that the order would apply during the period when paying guests are staying. I therefore apologise that that comment was misleading. I spoke to the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, earlier and I will be writing to him to clarify this in more detail. I will make arrangements to place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House, which will ensure that this correction is recorded.
The Government are committed to creating a bigger and better private rented sector. The regulations will set a new benchmark for alarm installation in private sector properties, making tenants safer and increasing property standards while still supporting good landlords by not overregulating and stifling the sector with unnecessary red tape. The regulations prove the Government’s commitment to continue improvement and create a private rented sector that works for everyone, and I commend them to the House.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)
My Lords, we come back to a very interesting debate about these regulations and the process used by the Minister’s department. I declare an interest as an adviser to Consumer Safety International and a patron of CO-Gas Safety.
I very much endorse the remarks of my noble friend Lord McKenzie, who speaks with great experience due to his presidency of RoSPA and as a distinguished Minister with responsibility for health and safety in the previous Labour Government.
Let me say at once that we on the opposition Benches support the regulations. Some practical, technical details have been raised tonight, to which I hope the Minister will be able to respond. However, as a matter of principle, we support the regulations. But they are, of course, confined to the private rented sector. I repeat again the point that I made last week: when it comes to carbon monoxide poisoning, we know that the work of CO-Gas Safety shows that far more deaths occur in owner-occupied homes than in the private rented sector.
We also know that there are issues about British tourists going to other parts of Europe, where the provisions are even worse than in this country. We need to recognise that these regulations deal only with a very small part of the sector.
The second issue is clearly the way in which the Minister’s department publicised the existence of the regulations for those who need to know. It is very hard to argue with noble Lords who feel that the department’s work has not been up to the standard that we should expect. I suspect some of that is due to the swingeing cuts that the Government have made in the number of civil servants. Indeed, the disparaging remarks that some Ministers made about civil servants clearly did not help morale in government departments. I am sure the Minister would agree that, if civil servants and the resources spent in relation to government departments are continually undermined, it will have an impact. I suggest that we see that impact here. It is quite clear that there was no budget for getting the message across to the sector and it instead relied on press releases. Face it: no one reads press releases anymore. It is such an old-fashioned approach to communication —certainly journalists never read them. Relying on press releases and fire officers is simply not good enough.
Clearly, the regulations will go through, and so this will come into law on 1 October. I suggest that the Minister could give noble Lords a great deal of reassurance if she were to say that, on reflection, her department will now engage in a widespread publicity campaign. I think she owes it to your Lordships’ House for her department to make amends. The only way I think it can make amends is to do the job that it should have done in the first place.
I also take the point raised by my noble friend Lord Beecham that it is not just about publicity among landlords but about publicity among tenants. Surely there are ways in which tenants can be informed. His suggestion of using bills and the work of the energy companies is an excellent example. I think that we could leave your Lordships’ House tonight feeling that we have done the proper job of scrutiny—which does not seem to have taken place in the other place to judge by the noble Lord’s report of that this afternoon—if the Minister were to say that she recognised that the department did not do the right job but is now going to do it.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in the debate this evening. Perhaps I may first thank my noble friend Lord Crickhowell, because if I do not thank him now I may well forget, but I will refer to his comments in due course. I apologise to him for what happened the other day. I never knowingly omit noble Lords; I try to answer everybody’s questions, but on that occasion I failed.
My noble friend Lord Marlesford talked about the date of 4 September—in fact, many noble Lords referred to it. In his area in the eastern region, I understand a newsletter went out at the end of August. I am not saying that he has seen it, but I know that landlords associations up and down the country were making their members aware. Of course, if you are not a member of the landlords association you may well not have seen it, but it was making landlords aware from the end of August.
My noble friend talked also about the lack of a grace period. There is no statutory requirement to include a grace period. It is government policy that regulatory measures affecting businesses are brought into force on a common commencement date, which is usually either 6 April or 1 October, to help businesses plan for new regulations. The Government believe that it is important to enforce the regulations as soon as possible to help to protect the lives of private sector tenants. A considerable period has been allowed for landlords to prepare for the new duties—as I said, the regulations were laid in draft back in March.
There is also in effect a grace period, because where a landlord is in breach—the noble Lord, Lord Best, referred to this—they will have 28 days to comply with a remedial notice. If they do so, the local housing authority may not impose a penalty charge.
Earl Cathcart
My Lords, to get this straight, is my noble friend the Minister saying, in effect, that landlords may ignore this regulation until such time as the health and safety officer or the housing officer gets round to feeling their collar because they have been reported by, let us say, their tenant and that, even then, they still have 28 days to comply? The noble Lords, Lord Beecham and Lord Hunt, talked about publicity for tenants because, without it, the possibility of a tenant knowing about this regulation is remote. Therefore, a landlord would be quite unlucky to have a tenant who knew about it, let alone reported non-compliance. It is just not going to happen in sufficient numbers to achieve what the regulation is seeking.
Baroness O’Cathain (Con)
My Lords, the Minister said in respect of the 28 days that a local housing authority “may not” fine. Could that be changed to “will not”? Would a landlord have a period of grace of 28 days after receiving a notification that they were not complying?
Baroness Williams of Trafford
My Lords, I hope that I can clarify that, in effect, the grace period means that the landlord has 28 days to comply after the local authority has been notified that the landlord is not compliant. The landlord has 28 days from the issuing of a remedial notice to comply. I hope that that clarifies things.
My noble friend Lord Marlesford asked about consultation, as did my noble friend Lord Crickhowell the other day. I do not think I answered him very well so I hope that I can give a fuller response now. The Government carried out a major consultation on this and 96% of the respondents agreed that the regulations were needed. Officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Chief Fire Officers Association and local fire and rescue services have been in regular contact with industry bodies such as the British Property Federation, the National Landlords Association, the Residential Landlords Association and other stakeholder groups.
The Chief Fire Officers Association, as I explained in my opening speech, ran a national and regional advertising campaign. It included newspaper adverts in regional newspapers that stated that the timing would be October. It also ran ads in the trade press highlighting the forthcoming requirements for landlords to install both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the private rented sector. It estimates that the campaign reached more than 8 million people.
My noble friend Lord Crickhowell talked about the JCS I adverse report on the regulations. The department considered each of the committee’s concerns in great depth and acknowledged the error of not including a review clause. It committed to adding one at the earliest possible opportunity. We are grateful for the committee’s comments but believe that, with the addition of a review clause, the regulations should remain as drafted.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
I am trying to reflect on what the Minister said. Is she seriously saying that the fire officers reckon that 8 million people somehow or other got notice that these regulations were going to come into force? I have great respect for the fire and rescue services, but that is frankly not believable.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
My Lords, that is the information we have. I can ask them to clarify how they thought that 8 million people had received this information and write to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, and other noble Lords who are taking part in the debate. I would not want information to be incorrect, but it is the information that I have.
Lord Marlesford
If my noble friend believes that the British Property Federation is so happy, why on 11 September did it say that it is necessary to put back the compliance date—not necessarily the date of bringing this into force, but the compliance date—until April 2016? It is a big outfit and it is pointing out that 4.4 million properties are involved.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
My Lords, I take my noble friend’s point. There have been other concerns about the timing, but as I laid out in my opening speech and as I will explain in my responses to noble Lords this evening, this is the right thing to do at this time.
My noble friend Lord Crickhowell talked about rogue landlords and my description of rogue landlords. These regulations are intended to target those very few landlords who do not have a concern for tenants’ safety or security.
Lord Crickhowell
I am sorry. I understand that, but I happen to have open in front of me a letter I received from one of the major letting organisations representing a vast range of people, which shows how widely misunderstood the regulations are by the professionals. Some advice may have got through, but clearly some has not. I cannot delay the House setting out all the detail, but there is a long account of all the difficulties that landlords will have, some of which were referred to in practical terms by my noble friend. It is not just the rogue landlords who are going to get this wrong. I did my best when I renewed my own tenancy last week. I took the trouble to inform my landlord and my son at the same time, so that he could let out my former principal home correctly. But this is not understood by a whole range of people. That is the difficulty here: there may be a great blanket declaration that something is being done, but it is the detail that counts.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
I thank my noble friend and I will see what further publicity can be generated in the next few weeks.
On the timetable for the guidance, the booklet that we published on 4 September aims to aid landlords in understanding and complying with the regulations, and nothing new has been introduced. The requirements of the draft regulations are simply explained in that guidance and, as stated in the Explanatory Memorandum to the regulations, the Government did not intend to publish new guidance on this policy. Noble Lords referred to that last Monday. Instead we plan to use a variety of methods to publicise the instrument and the new duties to both local housing authorities and landlords. However, it was following a large volume of queries that we did decide to publish the explanatory booklet in order to help landlords.
The noble Lord, Lord Best, explained clearly the timeline of landlords being in breach and then issuing remedial notices. He also talked about testing on the first day of new tenancies for blocks of flats. In most cases a smoke alarm requires just a test button, but I appreciate that if new tenancies come in every day, it might be rather tiresome for the other tenants living in the block. If he does not mind, I will write to him in more detail about that.
My noble friend Lord Cathcart talked about the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. He relayed that story to me the other day, and it is absolutely tragic. He also mentioned the point about fireplaces. They are covered under the regulations for carbon monoxide alarms. If fireplaces are clearly not being used as working fireplaces and are blocked up, they are exempt from the requirement to have a carbon monoxide alarm. He also talked about awareness among landlords, and has discussed with me the idea of a register of landlords from the council tax forms that people receive. He has now pressed me on this three times, so I will go back to the department and discuss his suggestion. He also raised access issues. He is right to say that a request must be made to the tenant to access the property. The testing could be done on the first day of the tenancy when the inventory is being taken. Landlords or their agents tend to be busy on the first day.
The noble Lord, Lord Beecham, mentioned the How to Rent guide and asked whether it would be updated. It most certainly will be, and I referred to it last Monday. He talked about the practical difficulties around testing. Again, it can be done as part of the inventory on the first day of the tenancy, through either the landlord or the letting agents. He also asked whether we could expect further regulations. They will be brought forward in 2017. He then talked about publicity for tenants. I will write to him with any further information I have other than the How to Rent guide because I do not have that answer to hand. The date of 1 October is very significant because a lot of students will be moving into the private rented sector.
The noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, asked whether the alarms would have to be hardwired. The answer is no. It is up to the landlord how he or she puts them in. He talked about new burdens on local authorities. We try to make them as light as possible. We spent the previous Parliament trying to undo new burdens. I referred to the nearly £4 million that fire authorities were given both for publicity and the purchase of new fire alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.
Lord McKenzie of Luton
Will the Minister just confirm that there will be no additional resources for local authorities undertaking compliance?
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The point I was making is that we are trying to make the burden as light as possible. I will respond to the noble Lord on that.
The noble Lord asked about the exclusions and whether they would be covered in other legislation. Care homes, hospitals and hospices will be covered under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Hostels, refuges and student halls will be treated exactly the same. The only sector that is not covered is social housing, but it is so good at its obligations to tenants that it was not an area that needed to be included in the regulations. He also asked what energy companies were doing. We could write to them and ask exactly how they are playing their part.
The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, mentioned that the regulations apply only to small parts of the sector. That is absolutely correct. They apply to parts of the sector that have shown the least duty of care historically to their tenants in terms of the installation of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. He talked about no budget. Of course, a £4 million budget was given to the fire authorities, but I do not know whether he was referring to other budgets such as that referred to by the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, talked about a widespread publicity campaign that still needs to happen. I will certainly go back to the department to see what further work can be done, given some of the concerns expressed in the House.
Lord Beecham
Before the Minister sits down, she referred to Airbnb and indicated that those properties were covered not by these regulations but by others. Can she—if not tonight, then in correspondence—provide the details of that? I was left somewhat puzzled by that response.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
I forgot to respond on that. The fire safety order of 2005 is largely aimed at non-domestic premises whereas these regulations are aimed at residential premises. I will explain this point further in my letter to the noble Lord which we will send shortly. I will clarify the Airbnb point in the letter. I hope that that satisfies the noble Lord.