Building Regulations (Review) Bill [HL]

Lord Hoyle Excerpts

Friday 22nd October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hoyle]

My Lords, as I am the last to speak before the Front-Benchers, your Lordships will be pleased to know that I am not going to make a very long speech. If I did, I would be as popular as the fourth official at the Reebok Stadium if Bolton Wanderers were beating Manchester United one nil and he allowed four minutes’ extra time.

However, I could not not be here this morning to support my noble friend, having supported him in his previous Bill, because it is very important that we examine this proposal. His proposal now does not go as far as his previous one, which called for it to be mandatory policy to fit sprinklers, but goes along with building regulations. The noble Lord who just spoke raised some interesting questions. He asked: would it be better, instead of putting sprinklers in every new house, to look at the most hazardous buildings and fit them there, where more people might be at risk? That is certainly something that we need to look at. I hope that the Minister's speech does not concentrate solely on the cost. There is a cost—that has been illustrated—but what is the cost of losing a life? That is what we have to pose everything against.

I am very pleased that my noble friend has the support of the chief officers in the fire services, because none of us here can pay enough tribute to them for their work, and we must take note of their going along with proposals under which they feel that we could make people safer against fires. It is quite right that my noble friend concentrated on the changing circumstances of society. Elderly people will remain in their homes for longer. They will be more vulnerable because of that, especially to fires—or they may cause fires.

I raise another instance that can arise with fires, which involves young couples with children who are in different rooms. It is difficult to get them out in time. As my noble friend said, it can take up to 10 minutes for the fire service to arrive, but a sprinkler can prevent that fire in three minutes. Imagine the anguish that people face if they have children in other rooms. Sometimes they have to decide which room they can get into and which child they can save. If sprinklers begin to help to save their lives, that will be very well worth while.

My noble friend was also right when he said that the examinations that have been made under building regulations are not up to date in looking at the appropriate facts. We must look at the fitting of sprinklers not only in this country but where it has been mandatory, in Vancouver and certain parts of Arizona. There, we see quite a different efficiency applied to sprinklers. They say that fire deaths have all but been eliminated, that injuries have been reduced by 85 per cent, that there has been an improvement in fire fighters' safety and that property damage has been reduced by 90 per cent. Those are figures that we must take into account when reaching a decision on this matter.

My noble friend is not calling for something that is mandatory at this stage, but for a new look at sprinklers. He is not asking for a complete review—I know that the Minister may say in reply that they have had a review and that it is complete. All my noble friend is asking for is for us to look again at the question of fire safety in relation to sprinklers. Finally, if the facts that we have available from other countries that have tried it out have shown that lives can be saved and property damage reduced, that would be worth while and certainly ought to be looked at in depth, because if we can save one life as a result of this debate, this Bill will have been very worth while. I welcome it.