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Building Regulations (Review) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I apologise to the Chair for taking my glasses off in order better to read my speech. I hope that the Bill and its amendment also will be live music to the Government’s ears, although I fear not. The Government’s first duty is the safety and protection of its citizens. The Bill and its amendment today are a simple, good and effective measure. The title ““Building Regulations”” conceals the ambition for sprinklers to be inserted into new-build residences under 30 metres in height. I emphasise, though, that we are asking for better research to be produced so that we can make that claim and implement the hope and ambition of introducing sprinklers in this way. This is not new legislation but an extension of existing legislation, as the measure is already in place for new buildings over 30 metres in height. What are the Minister’s concerns about the current legislation that is in full operation? I believe that the Bill will save lives. We have computed that something like £7 billion is lost every year to fire, and of course lives are tragically lost. With regard to firefighters, and I think that all of us in this House have unstinting admiration for those who fight fires on the public’s behalf, the Bill would cut injuries not only to them but to the public, who can be maimed as a result of unexpected fire. It would save property; of the £7 billion that I said would be saved if the Bill were implemented, we may compute that one-third of that, £2.5 billion, is from the saving of property. This measure would also save the environment, since there is concern about excessive run-off water from appliances putting out fires that pollutes the drainage system and causes other environmental degradation. It is right to give a bit of the narrative of the progress of the Bill. Some 15 months ago I had the pleasure of introducing a Bill that asked the Government to implement forthwith the application of sprinklers in new residences under 30 metres high. In the course of time and conversations, this changed and the emphasis moved to having secure and better research in this area. I am grateful to the former Minister, my noble friend Lord McKenzie of Luton, who responded to our desire to have a meeting with all those who had contributed to Second Reading. We got around the table; the noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, was there from the Conservative side, while the noble Lord, Lord Best, who I see in his seat, contributed with his experience, and we had representation from the Liberal Democrats. We resolved to go forward with the idea of improving our knowledge and the research associated with the ambition to change, develop or extend the Bill in the way that we have accepted. It is this Bill that I have now brought back as a result of the change of Government, and it comes before us today with an amendment. I repeat the point that the last Bill to pass through the House of Lords had the support of the Liberal Democrats, the Cross Benchers, the Labour Party and the Conservatives, so I wonder what has changed in the interim. In this Session I have brought back the Bill that was passed, which in subsection (1) outlines those areas that might be better scrutinised, researched and understood, or to address any anxieties that were expressed during the first Second Reading. Again, I ask the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, which of the items listed in paragraphs (a) to (i) cause anxiety. I ask this because research by the Chief Fire Officers Association was already under way. Indeed, others with a strong interest in the area were doing research—independently, and paying for it themselves. Given that, what does the noble Earl think would be a burden on the Government if this Bill was accepted? It would be helpful if he could respond to that. As I said, we have had the Second Reading and we now have Committee. We understand from the Minister that he is now less happy than he had been before, so I am moving the amendment that is before the Committee today. Originally I asked that the research should be started—not finished but started—within a compass of 12 months. The amendment moves that out to 30 months. I have done that in an effort to ensure that no imposition is made on the Government, thus reflecting some of the anxieties they have at the moment and which I hope they will elaborate on shortly. I shall repeat what I have said before. The very fact that we commuted the original Bill and set its focus more on research demonstrates that we want to work positively with the Government. This further amendment, which moves the review from 12 months to 30 months, is again a demonstration of our desire to work with the Government and try to arrive at something that is satisfactory. However, it would be helpful if the Minister could say why the Conservatives are now against the Bill when they voted for it in the dying days of the last Administration. It would be interesting to learn from our Liberal Democrat colleagues why they supported the Bill. What has materially changed that now inspires concern in the Government in the form of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrat party? I repeat again that the Bill that has been tabled is the one we had before. It encourages research, but it has no financial implications because, once the research has been done, it asks the Government to take into account that updated research in any decision to bring forward or support legislation that might be made. I understand from our conversations that the Minister objects to some of the cost implications. Perhaps he could spell out those cost implications, and perhaps also set that against the fact that some £350 million might have to be spent if 150,000 houses were provided with sprinklers in new build. Perhaps he could set that 4 per cent of cost against the £7 billion that is lost, along with the deaths and maiming of people, loss of property and so forth. It really is a small percentage set against the annual loss experienced. Perhaps the Minister could also say which priorities he feels the Government must put before the Bill, which are of such importance and reach, and help to save the lives of people who would otherwise die needlessly. Could he list the priorities that he mentioned in his conversations with us that are relevant to his department, the DCLG? Does he agree that, while the Government have said in their document that they wish to cut red tape and reduce regulation, there are examples of better regulation that improve matters? If we are suggesting at the end of the day that this regulation be brought in, does he think that it should not be? One of our arguments has been that the Building Research Establishment’s report is outdated and needs to be updated so that it draws upon international research and later information that improves the situation. Most of the research is being done by the Chief Fire Officers Association. The Government are looking a gift horse in the mouth if they do not take advantage of that information, which broadens the knowledge that is in the BRE report. Again, I ask the Minister to go back and look at his own report that, albeit outdated, still recognises that sprinkler systems work and have been effective in reducing the death rate associated with these fires. At Second Reading, the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, acknowledged that there had been a downward trend in the number of deaths associated with these kinds of fire, but said that it had reached a plateau. He himself said that the Government cannot allow the status quo: the plateau could not prevail and we had to do something about it. I wonder what he feels is being done. What are the new initiatives? This is an initiative: a development of existing legislation that he could readily grab. I would be very interested to know what he thinks those new initiatives might be. He supports the Fire Kills campaign, which has been successful, but it would be useful to hear of further developments. I hope that the Minister will test all the information that is provided to him by his civil servants. I hope that the DCLG has no reservations about sprinklers and will look very hard at their effectiveness. It is disturbing to know that the low-cost sprinkler project seems to have had very tepid support from DCLG. There is no additional funding for fire and rescue services to sign up to it. Why not? To give an example, there has been a failure of the DCLG to involve itself with the Sheffield tower block refit; it has just asked to be kept informed. That is not good enough. Since I spoke 15 months ago, and even more recently, things have changed and keep changing. I have mentioned the demographic and protecting the citizen before. Those who are more vulnerable to these kinds of fires are young men and women, often in single rooms, but I highlight again that it is particularly the old who are more vulnerable. We have greater knowledge of the vulnerability of older people, who now often confine themselves to a single room and cause what those in fire circles often call ““the room of origin”” fire. It is known and demonstrable that sprinklers sometimes have the wonderful effect of dousing fires quicker than the fire authorities can arrive, thereby saving lives because of the increasing immobility of people and their lack of opportunity to move when a fire begins and smoke fumes overwhelm them. Ann Jones’ Bill has gone through the Welsh Assembly recently. Interestingly, the introduction of sprinklers does not apply just to buildings over 30 metres but to all new build. I understand that the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in the Welsh Assembly voted for the Bill and that there was a consensus. I live in Chester in the north-west, which borders on Wales. I used to work in Wrexham and I do not understand why we might have to apply a different law to people who live in Chester compared with people who live in Wrexham. I invite the Minister to comment on that. I believe that the Welsh Assembly Bill will improve our knowledge in this area. I recently attended a meeting of Staffordshire fire officers and politicians. We were presented with a booklet entitled, ““Sprinklers: Your Personal Fire Fighter 24/7””. The booklet contains many interesting points, given the lack of knowledge about sprinklers. It says that there have been no multiple fire deaths in the United Kingdom following a fire in a dwelling with a working sprinkler system. US experience shows that 98 per cent of all fires in dwellings with sprinklers are extinguished with only one sprinkler head. Only the sprinkler heads in the immediate vicinity of a fire actually operate. Sprinklers do not cause false alarms. They operate only if there is an actual fire. I hope that this updated information and the improved working of sprinklers will be examined and brought to the Minister’s attention. I hope that the amendment will be accepted. I mentioned the gap between the 30-month and 12-month periods. At the end of the conference I was approached by a fire officer who told me that he had calculated how many firefighters and others would die because we were missing out on the opportunity to implement appropriate legislation. I hope that the Minister will give us a warmer reply than has hitherto been the case because we can act today in a beneficial way.