FREP MQs July 19
Electrical appliance safety (1)
Question No: 2019/14520
Andrew Dismore
In your response to my question 2019/9239, you said you would expect “all Londoners to heed the advice of London Fire Brigade”. What actions has the GLA, including LFB, taken, to make developers of housing on GLA land aware of LFB advice regarding unsafe electrical appliances and to encourage them to heed this?
Electrical appliance safety (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
The London Development Panel (LDP2) is the GLA’s framework of developers and builders which can be used to deliver residential-led development on public land. There are already standard clauses in LDP2 contracts which require developers to do all things required by any regulations relating to the works and the use and occupation of the premises.
Officers in Housing & Land are working with the LFB to review the standard form of contracts for LDP2 to make sure that new homes delivered on the GLA’s land through the panel meet the highest standards of fire safety. The review will consider including measures relating to the fire safety of electrical appliances in new LDP contracts, and sharing this guidance with existing developers building on GLA land.
Electrical appliance safety (2)
Question No: 2019/14521
Andrew Dismore
Do LFB fire safety visits include a check of electrical appliances in the premises in order to make residents aware of any that are on LFB’s danger list?
Electrical appliance safety (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
London Fire Brigade’s (LFB) current Home Fire Safety Visits do not routinely include checks of electrical appliances. However, both the LFB website and the ‘Fire Safety in the Home’ booklet contain specific advice regarding the electrical safety of appliances. The ongoing Total Recalls campaign also continues to raise awareness of electrical appliance safety and the need for a central Government product recall database.
The pilot of the Fire, Safe and Well visits did include elements of electrical appliance safety, including product registration and recall. This provided valuable data which has been shared with the Office of Product Safety and Standards.
Electrical appliance safety (3)
Question No: 2019/14522
Andrew Dismore
What guidance, if any, on interior appliance fittings does the GLA issue to housing developers operating on GLA land?
Electrical appliance safety (3)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
Please see the answer to Mayor’s Question 2019/14520 but note that it is the responsibility of developers to ensure that they comply with statutory fire regulations and Electrical Wiring regulations (18th Edition) and any codes of practices or guidance issued by the HSE, central government and the LFB.
Question No: 2019/14523
Andrew Dismore
How many fires at cannabis farms has LFB attended since 2009/10? Please provide this data by year.
Fires in cannabis farms (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
London Fire Brigade (LFB) does not use a specific data identifier for fires at cannabis farms. Therefore, data about such fires is derived from a free text search for the term ‘cannabis farms’ in its records. The number of fires identified through this format are set out below:
| Financial Year | Number of fires |
| 2009/10 | 18 |
| 2010/11 | 15 |
| 2011/12 | 20 |
| 2012/13 | 26 |
| 2013/14 | 20 |
| 2014/15 | 25 |
| 2015/16 | 18 |
| 2016/17 | 26 |
| 2017/18 | 18 |
| 2018/19 | 14 |
| 2019/20* (as at 9 July 2019) | 8 |
Question No: 2019/14524
Andrew Dismore
What is the average number of appliances and firefighters attending incidents at cannabis farms, in each year since 2009/10?
Fires in cannabis farms (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
London Fire Brigade (LFB) has no specific data identifier for fires at cannabis farms. Data about such fires is derived from querying free text incident messages. Data about appliances and riders at fires at ‘cannabis farms’ is also set out in the table below.
| Financial Year | Number of fires | Pumping appliances | Other appliances |
| Appliances (average) | Riders (average) | Appliances (average) | Riders (average) |
| 2009/10 | 18 | 4.2 | 18.9 |
| 2010/11 | 15 | 4.0 | 19.1 |
| 2011/12 | 20 | 4.5 | 19.9 |
| 2012/13 | 26 | 4.0 | 17.7 |
| 2013/14 | 20 | 4.2 | 19.0 |
| 2014/15 | 25 | 3.8 | 19.0 |
| 2015/16 | 18 | 4.1 | 19.1 |
| 2016/17 | 26 | 4.0 | 18.1 |
| 2017/18 | 18 | 3.7 | 17.2 |
| 2018/19 | 14 | 5.1 | 22.8 |
| 2019/20 | 8 | 8.4 | 37.0 |
The average number of pumping and other appliances attending (and riders) excludes reliefs.
The average number of pumping appliances and pumping appliance riders in 2019/20 is impacted by the 15-pump fire at a warehouse in Tottenham in May 2019 and the smaller data set, as the figures up to 9th July 2019.
Fires affecting rough sleepers (1)
Question No: 2019/14525
Andrew Dismore
How many rough sleepers in London have a) died and b) required hospitalisation as a result of injuries sustained in fires in each year from 2009/10 to the present? Please provide this data broken down by borough if possible
Fires affecting rough sleepers (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
There is no specific data category in the national Incident Recording System, which London Fire Brigade (LFB) follows, for indicating whether the victim of a fire is a ‘rough sleeper’. The data to answer this question (attached) has been compiled by querying free text held as part of the incident record.
This includes messages from the incident ground where someone sustained an injury or died as a result of a fire that occurred outdoors, or in outdoor structures including garages, warehouses, squats, vans and communal areas of residential blocks. Fires in hostels for homeless people have not been included in this search.
Fires affecting rough sleepers (2)
Question No: 2019/14526
Andrew Dismore
How many fires have there been in London in which a rough sleeper sustained an injury or died as a result of the fire in each year since 2009/10? Please provide this data broken down by borough if possible.
Fires affecting rough sleepers (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
Please see the answer outlined in Mayor’s Question 2019/14525.
Fires affecting rough sleepers (3)
Question No: 2019/14527
Andrew Dismore
Of the fires in London since 2009/10 in which a rough sleeper sustained an injury or died as a result, how many were judged by LFB to have been started deliberately? Please provide this data broken down by year and by borough if possible.
Fires affecting rough sleepers (3)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
Please see the answer to Mayor’s Question 2019/14525.
Question No: 2019/14528
Andrew Dismore
Who is the responsible person under the Fire Safety Order for the Millennium Mills site which caught fire on 23 June 2019?
Millennium Mills fire (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
The site is managed by the GLA’s property management consultants, Avison Young, and they are responsible for fire safety.
Question No: 2019/14529
Andrew Dismore
LFB reported that the Millennium Mills building had caught fire four times previously, most recently 12 months ago. What fire safety advice, if any, did LFB provide to the responsible person after each of these fires?
Millennium Mills fire (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
The building has been disused for over 30 years and cannot be occupied in its current state. London Fire Brigade (LFB) have previously discussed with the managing agents about the security arrangements at the site. Following the latest discussions, security at the site has been increased to prevent further fires.
Buildings below 18m with flammable cladding
Question No: 2019/14530
Andrew Dismore
Is LFB or any other GLA body taking steps to ascertain the number of buildings, like Samuel Garside House, that are below 18m high but have aluminium composite material cladding, or other forms of cladding that are judged to be unsafe on tall buildings?
Buildings below 18m with flammable cladding
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
Neither LFB nor the GLA would have the capacity to investigate all buildings in London that might have potentially unsafe cladding.
It is the responsibility of national Government to make sure the responsible person for each building is given the correct guidance on making sure their building is safe, and that councils are given the powers and resources they need to take appropriate enforcement action.
Support from external organisations on the Samuel Garside House fire
Question No: 2019/14531
Andrew Dismore
What support has LFB received from the Building Research Establishment and the Independent Expert Panel on the investigation into the fire at Samuel Garside House?
Support from external organisations on the Samuel Garside House fire
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
The Independent Expert Panel (IEP) and the Building Research Establishment (BRE) did not directly assist London Fire Brigade (LFB) with the investigation at Samuel Garside House. The IEP’s role is to advise Government, rather than to assist fire services with investigations. LFB did facilitate BRE attending the incident to gather data for MHCLG’s building safety programme, but BRE were not commissioned to be there in to support either the police or fire service. LFB deployed specialist fire safety and fire investigation officers to the fire. Officers were supported by the Brigade’s Scientific Advisors, who took samples for laboratory testing.
Lakanal House coroner’s recommendations
Question No: 2019/14532
Andrew Dismore
What correspondence was had between LFB, other GLA bodies, and London Boroughs regarding the coroner’s recommendations following the Lakanal House fire?
Lakanal House coroner’s recommendations
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
Following the Coroner’s recommendations, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) initiated a high-rise fire safety forum, hosted by LFB and attended by partners including London Councils, the National Social Housing Fire Strategy Group, the Association of Residential Letting Agents and a number of other associations. LFB also ran a campaign targeted at housing providers and those living in purpose-built blocks of flats, which used a variety of means to promote important safety messages. Letters were sent to all London Boroughs and Housing Associations, and ‘know the plan’ guides were sent to local councillors.
The Brigade also engaged with DCLG to request clarification on a number of Regulatory Fire Safety matters.
Public sector remediation of ACM cladding (1)
Question No: 2019/14533
Andrew Dismore
How many social sector buildings have had funding allocated from the cladding remediation fund administered by the GLA and what is the total value of this allocation?
Public sector remediation of ACM cladding (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
The GLA manages the Social Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund in London on the Government’s behalf. The Government approves funding applications, and a total of approximately £206m funding has been committed and has begun to be spent on 72 buildings in London.
Public sector remediation of ACM cladding (2)
Question No: 2019/14534
Andrew Dismore
Of the social sector buildings that have been allocated cladding remediation funding via the GLA, how many are in each borough?
Public sector remediation of ACM cladding (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
The Ministry for Communities, Housing and Local Government is responsible for collecting data on buildings affected by ACM cladding, and the information they collect is published in building safety data releases, the latest of which is available on the link below. Specific information on exact number of buildings in each borough, or how many have received cladding remediation funding, is not published to avoid the risk that buildings can be identified.
Public sector remediation of ACM cladding (3)
Question No: 2019/14535
Andrew Dismore
How many dwellings are contained in the buildings to which the GLA has allocated funding for the remediation of ACM cladding in the social sector?
Public sector remediation of ACM cladding (3)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
On behalf of the Government, the GLA has allocated funding from the Social Sector Cladding Remediation fund to 72 buildings, which contain a total of approximately 5,500 dwellings.
Public sector remediation of ACM cladding (4)
Question No: 2019/14536
Andrew Dismore
What is the total number of social sector buildings in London with ACM cladding that have yet to be allocated funding from the remediation fund?
Public sector remediation of ACM cladding (4)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has committed to fund the remediation of all social sector residential buildings with ACM cladding of 18m or over. MHCLG is yet to approve four buildings in London. My team is working with building owners to get these applications approved as quickly as possible.
Inspection of interim fire safety measures (1)
Question No: 2019/14537
Andrew Dismore
In your response to question 2019/12198, you said that LFB firefighters are conducting ad-hoc checks on interim fire safety measures. How many such checks have LFB conducted in each year since the Grenfell Tower fire, and what has been the number of person-hours taken up?
Inspection of interim fire safety measures (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
Ad hoc checks of buildings with interim arrangements have been in place since December 2017. The number of buildings to which these checks have been applied has varied slightly over that time as buildings have been remediated and new premises have been added. The person hours taken up at these visits will have varied greatly for a number of reasons, including differences in the primary reason firefighters were visiting the premises and the complexity of the property and it is not possible to provide a breakdown of the hours spent on these visits. There have been in excess of 2,400 revisits to these premises since December 2017. 1,768 visits took place in 2018 and 616 visits have taken place so far in 2019.
Inspection of interim fire safety measures (2)
Question No: 2019/14538
Andrew Dismore
In your response to question 2019/12198, you said that “LFB has procedures in place to respond to fire safety concerns raised by residents in any premises”. How many safety concerns have been raised by residents in buildings with interim fire safety measures have been lodged with LFB in each year since the Grenfell Tower fire? Please break this data down by borough.
Inspection of interim fire safety measures (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
London Fire Brigade (LFB) routinely receive a range of general enquiries and concerns from residents through a variety of means. These interactions are not routinely captured for recording purposes. However, serious safety concerns are captured as Alleged Fire Risks (AFRs). There has been one AFR raised from a resident in a block with interim fire safety measures in place since June 2017, and that was in Hounslow.
Question No: 2019/14539
Andrew Dismore
How many tall residential buildings constructed on GLA land have had sprinklers or other automated fire suppression systems fitted?
Answer for Sprinklers on GLA land
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 July, 2019
Officers are drafting a response
Question No: 2019/14540
Andrew Dismore
Is the Joint Inspection Team announced in June 2018 operating yet?
Joint Inspection Team
The Mayor
Last updated: 22 July, 2019
I am frustrated that the Government has so far failed to get the Joint Inspection Team up and running, more than a year after it was announced. However, my team has been informed that the Joint Inspection work will start shortly.
