Written evidence submitted by The London Fire Brigade (RDC0144)

 

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Introduction

London Fire Brigade (LFB) is London's fire and rescue service - one of the largest firefighting and rescue organisations in the world and we are here to make London a safer city. Decisions are made either by the London Fire Commissioner (the statutory fire and rescue authority for Greater London), the Mayor of London or the Deputy Mayor, Planning, Regeneration and the Fire Service. A Fire Committee of the London Assembly holds the Commissioner, Mayor and Deputy Mayor to account.

Response

  1. London has around two thirds (65%+) of the entire national high-rise residential risk (buildings of 18m+ or seven storeys), as well as other high-risk premises including but not limited to; hospitals, care homes and transport hubs.
  2. London Fire Brigade faces multiple demands on ‘front-line’ fire safety staff. There is a chronic shortage of competent fire safety staff and only a single pool of competent staff to meet all demands, including the Risk Based Inspection Program (RBIP) and reactive work, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and Remediation work.
  3. Sustained multi-year investment in Fire Safety, that is linked to inflation, is required to ensure that LFB has enough competent staff to meet the Government’s priorities, including the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and Remediation work, to help ensure we can serve and protect our communities.
  4. LFB would welcome Government setting out a national strategic approach to improving fire safety skills/capacity over the medium/long term (3-5 years), which would significantly improve the throughput of talent to ensure continuity of delivery in future across the fire and construction sectors (including building control professionals), and its regulators.
  5. All unsafe buildings should be remediated; the LFB understands the need for prioritising the order in which buildings are remediated and the hurdles that must be overcome.
  6. Central Government enforcement support to London can help drive remediation and needs to consider how a digital 'golden thread' of building safety information could deliver efficiencies.
  7. LFB believes that the built environment should be considered holistically, by residents and buildings, along with a cost-benefit analysis of retro-fitting mitigations, such as sprinklers, in buildings that may reduce the risk of a building with, for example cladding, as well as the risk to vulnerable residents.

January 2025