Government Funding Needed For London Fire Brigade To Deal With Unsafe Buildings

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is in serious need of funding to tackle the building safety crisis, according to Commissioner Andy Roe.

A total of 1,100 of London’s buildings above 11 meters are currently listed by the LFB as having serious fire safety issues. While this represents a slight drop from 1,174 in March, the capital has had more than 1,000 unsafe buildings for almost a year, and the real number of unsafe buildings could be much higher.

City Hall Plenary meeting

At a City Hall Plenary meeting back in February, LFB Commissioner Andy Roe said that to inspect just 10% or 20% of London's approximately 95,000 mid-rise buildings for fire safety defects, the LFB must recruit a "significant labor force" of “a couple of hundred” additional specialist fire safety inspecting officers. He also said that there is an £8 million budget gap expected for the LFB in 2022/2023.

During Mayor’s Question Time on 19 May, Labor’s London Assembly Fire and Resilience Spokesperson, Anne Clarke AM, urged the government to support people living in residential blocks of all heights and called for proper funding for the LFB to tackle the building safety scandal. Ms. Clarke wants compensation for leaseholders who have already paid out of their own pocket to fix potentially deadly fire risks.

Need of remediation work

Secretary of State for the Department for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), Michael Gove has stated developers will pay for mid-rise buildings between 11 and 18 meters with dangerous cladding, and funding has been provided for 8,500 high-rise buildings above 18 meters in London.

I think the height requirement should go, either your building is safe, or it isn’t"

Blocks below 11 meters that have been deemed in need of remediation work will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but the government stopped short of providing blanket protection under the Building Safety Act, the Housing Minister, Stuart Andrew, revealed in the Commons last month.

In response to a question from Ms. Clarke, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, stated: “I think the height requirement should go, either your building is safe, or it isn’t.”

remediation support For Residential buildings

Ms. Clarke said: “Nearly five years on from the Grenfell tragedy it’s completely unacceptable that so many Londoners are living in unsafe homes. Ministers must extend remediation support to all residential buildings with safety defects or combustible cladding. Regardless of height, if leaseholders have already paid, they are owed compensation. Londoners are being let down."

She adds, "They’re dealing with this on top of an unprecedented cost of living crisis. It’s disgusting so many have been left to sit with this hanging over their heads. This is a building safety scandal, not just a cladding scandal. The Fire Brigade needs more funding from the government so it can recruit hundreds of specialist fire safety officers to make London safe.”