Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will replace its July 2016 guidance on schools being fitted with fire sprinklers which includes the words therefore BB100 no longer includes an expectation that new school buildings will be fitted with them with guidance which makes clear that there is an expectation that all new schools will have sprinklers fitted.

There have been no changes to the fire safety laws for schools or our determination to protect children’s safety. It has always been the case, and remains the case, that where the risk assessment required for any new building recommends sprinklers are installed to keep children safe, they must be fitted.

The draft revised fire safety design for schools guidance, issued as part of a technical consultation with experts from the fire sector, has not been adopted. The Department’s 2007 guidance continues to be extant. Alongside the rest of Government, the department will take forward any findings from the public inquiry into the tragic Grenfell Tower fire.