| Fire safety breaches in court and prisons have come to light thanks to a Freedom of Information by CLG |
Alleged fire safety breaches in court buildings and prisons have come to light thanks to a Freedom of Information disclosure by Communities and Local Government (CLG).
Some 15 fire enforcement notices, including one for lack of a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and another for inadequate firefighting procedures or training, were issued on the concerned government departments.
Covering a period between October 1, 2006 and June, 2010, the bulk of the orders were served on the Ministry of Justice or HM Prison Service and come in the wake of similar breaches in CLG's own headquarters revealed by the BBC in June.
Commenting on the news, Fire Industry Association chief executive Graham Ellicott said: “It may be time for CLG to allow the responsible people in government buildings to sort out their building's requirements under the Fire safety Order.”
This is especially in light of its claims of adopting "a radical localist vision", which it says is "giving power to the people" by decentralising central government.
"While 'localism' is to be applauded in many cases, in this case CLG should be leading the way in lifting the levels of fire safety in buildings by providing the responsible people with the training and the tools to discharge their duties under the Fire Safety Order," added Mr Ellicott.