F&RM Deputy Editor Aisha Farooq tracks the recent moves towards increasing fire safety for disabled people
In February 2024, the then government presented a policy paper in parliament outlining its Disability Action Plan. From support for disabled people who want to be elected to public office to including disabled people’s needs in climate-related policies, improving information and outcomes for families in which someone is disabled to making playgrounds more accessible, the plan intended to set out immediate actions to improve the everyday lives of disabled people while also laying the foundations for longer-term change.
This policy paper only briefly touches on aspects of fire safety; in fact, the actions mentioned extend only as far as improving emergency and resilience planning to include the needs of disabled people. As such, several disability rights groups have commented that government still has more to do to address the needs of those living with disabilities in the UK. In that context, this article examines recent responses to fire safety for disabled people.
Government fire safety advice
Guidance on fire safety for disabled people can be found on the government website. First published in 2008, it has been updated over the years, including as recently as August 2022. Aimed at disabled people and those who care for them, the fire safety tips include ensuring working smoke alarms have been fitted on each level of the home and are tested monthly. For those with hearing, sight, or mobility difficulties, the government suggests installing specialist smoke alarms, for instance, alarms that use strobe light or vibrating pads, have coloured covers or visible stickers, and are remote-controlled or easy to access from the wall rather than the ceiling. Residents are also encouraged to seek further advice from recognised disabled people’s organisations (DPOs), such as the Disabled Living Foundation, Scope, and Disability Rights UK, as well as the government-led Fire England. The latter offers specific advice for carers to identify potential fire risks in the home.
The government also advises those with sight, hearing, or mobility issues to register with their local fire and rescue service (FRS) so that fire crews can respond as appropriate in the event of an emergency. Local services can also carry out home safety risks to identify any fire risks and provide further advice on staying safe.
Fire safety and disability – a timeline
Discussions around reviewing fire safety for disabled people were arguably propelled by the tragic events of the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, which claimed 72 lives. As Disability Rights UK reports, 40% of the building’s disabled residents died in the fire, with no evacuation plans in place for residents to escape. Testimonies from the subsequent Inquiry have relayed harrowing stories of residents who were unable to self-evacuate and escape the fire. Part of the recommendations set out in the 2019 Phase 1 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry (see table below) included national guidelines to be developed for carrying out partial or total evacuations in high-rise residential buildings.
In its latest progress report, published in February 2024 and updated in March 2024, the government listed this recommendation as complete, while recommendation 33.22b calling for FRSs to develop policies for partial and total evacuation of high-rise residential buildings and training to support then was still in progress.
Despite the government committing to implementing all recommendations from the Phase 1 Inquiry report, its stance on PEEPs has fluctuated. In 2021, it launched a consultation on PEEPs, specifically focusing on recommendations 33.22e and 33.33f. In May 2022, the Home Office published its response where it stated that it would not mandate PEEPs in all high-rise residential buildings “at this stage” because the “evidence base for PEEPs [was] not sufficient”.
It went on to say, “We have given careful consideration to the general equality duty, but the concerns around practicality, proportionality, and the safety case have led us to conclude that mandating PEEPs as described in the consultation at this time could in fact have a detrimental effect on those with certain protected characteristics: in particular, disabled individuals, the elderly, and those who are less mobile due to pregnancy or maternity.”
It swiftly launched a follow-up consultation on Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing + (EEIS+), seeking views on “alternative proposals to support the fire safety of residents who would need support to evacuate in an emergency”. The updated consultation acknowledged the expectations and costs that would fall upon Responsible Persons to facilitate the implementation of PEEPs, which would likely be passed on to residents and leaseholders. Instead, it proposed defining a building evacuation strategy, ensuring the identification of those needing support to evacuate, implementing a Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessment checklist, and sharing information with local FRSs to be used in the event of a fire. Although the consultation ran until August 2022, a government response has not yet been published.
In July 2023, then Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, Michael Gove appeared to have a change of heart regarding the mandating of PEEPs. During a House of Commons debate, he said:
“The Government have accepted in principle all the recommendations in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s phase 1 report … and I continue to work closely with the Home Secretary to make sure that we deliver on all of them, particularly the recommendation to mandate personal emergency evacuation plans—PEEPs—for disabled residents.”
Gove later added: “I was reflecting… on the particular fate that disabled residents faced at Grenfell and the vital importance of making sure that we have personal emergency evacuation plans in place.”
In February 2024, the Home Office published evacuation guidelines for fire and rescue services, which sets out nine national guidelines to support FRSs in their operational practices during a full or partial evacuation from high-rise residential buildings. Of these guidelines, numbers 5, 6, and 7 relate specifically to vulnerable residents. Here, the government uses the term ‘vulnerable people’ to refer to “individuals who have any condition that would affect their ability to evacuate in the event of a fire and would include, for example, those with hearing, sight and cognitive impairments, and some elderly or very young people”:
Disability Action Plan
Adequate evacuation strategies for vulnerable residents continue to be at the forefront of government engagements with the public and charitable organisations. The recent Disability Action Plan followed a consultation from July 2023, in which respondents highlighted several key issues including amplifying the voices and experiences of disabled people, ensuring equality of outcomes and opportunity, having clear and measurable actions, offering greater financial support amidst the cost-of-living crisis, and ensuring sufficient and specific funding for any policies was implemented.
“Several respondents noted that the London Fire Brigade’s recommendation of mandatory Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) across all relevant settings should be implemented. A few respondents also mentioned the need for up-to-date guidance on disability inclusion for local authority emergency planners and first responders,” the government stated.
A key area of action, with 96% of respondents in agreement, was the inclusion of disabled people’s needs in emergency and resilience planning. Calls were made for greater recognition of disabled people’s specific needs, as “disability-inclusive emergency planning must not be an afterthought”, with practical actions based on the experiences of disabled people, resulting in better protection in future emergencies. Respondents believed there was still much to learn from the Grenfell Tower fire.
Part of the proposals set out in the Disability Action Plan policy paper include increased support and mandatory protocols. These included fire alarms with visual displays, touch-based signage to evacuation points, and evacuation plans that include disabled people.
Future of fire safety
July’s general election and subsequent change in government have brought into question how fire safety measures for disabled people may change (if at all) in the future. Added to that are the outcomes of the second and final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, due to be published in September 2024.
In a bid to make clear the needs and considerations of disabled people, Disability Rights UK released its ‘Disabled People’s Manifesto’ in which it urged the incoming UK government “to institute a radical reform programme, to tackle disablist policy making and systemic oppression and injustice, to create a society where everyone has equal life chances and is valued and treated equally”.
Their four-step plan signals better representation of disabled people in all political and public sectors, independence, rights, and inclusion. Specifically, the organisation calls for new build homes to be accessible as a national requirement, enforced standards of good quality and well-insulated housing, investment in building accessible social housing, and the implementation of all recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to ensure all disabled people can evacuate safely.
At the time of writing, the Labour government’s stance on evacuation strategies for vulnerable residents who are unable to self-evacuate is still unclear. Could such evacuation strategies become mandatory in the future? As with the previous government, we shall have to wait and see.
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Aisha Farooq is F&RM Deputy Editor at the FPA