Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review fire safety guidance with a view to including escape provisions when the stay put policy has to be abandoned.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person must undertake and review regularly a fire risk assessment of the premises and put in place and maintain adequate and appropriate fire precautions to mitigate the risk to life from fire. This includes ensuring adequate means of escape for building users.

The Local Government Association (LGA) produced guidance on fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats to support responsible persons to deliver an appropriate level of fire safety. In May 2018, the National Fire Chiefs Council published a guidance note on simultaneous evacuation, which should be considered alongside the LGA guidance – https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Simultaneous-evacuation-guidance. The LGA will be reviewing the guidance in the light of Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Buildings Regulations and Fire Safety and the Public Inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire.