Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to require the fitting of sprinklers in (a) care homes, b) extra care facilities, (c) specialised housing, (d) flats and apartment blocks, (e) houses in multiple occupation, (f) schools and (g) large high bay warehousing; and if he will make a statement.

We recognise that sprinklers are an effective means of controlling fire, but they are only one of a range of measures which make a building safe.

In 2020, following a consultation, we introduced changes to the statutory guidance to the building regulations (Approved Document B) to lower the threshold for provision of sprinkler systems in new blocks of flats from 30m to 11m.

We are also currently undertaking research on the current design approaches across the specialised housing and care home sector.

The design of schools is the responsibility of the Department for Education who are committed to increasing the safety standards in school buildings. They have consulted on updated guidance on fire safety design in schools, including the use of sprinklers. They plan to set out details shortly.