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Building Regulations (Review) Bill [HL]

I support my noble friend Lord Harrison’s amendment and his Bill. At the Dispatch Box in our previous debate, the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, referred to ““Groundhog Day””. A number of us in the Chamber today feel the same sense that we have been here before. I pay enormous tribute to the tenacity and commitment of my noble friend Lord Harrison for the work that he has undertaken to drive this forward. He has not been prepared to let the issue drop. He wants to continue purely in the interests of public safety. The same goes for my noble friend Lord McKenzie of Luton, given his former role at the Dispatch Box and his commitment. My noble friend Lord Knight of Weymouth will remember many discussions on the way forward on this when I was the fire Minister and he was an education Minister. As he said, I am pleased that we were able to make such progress. I support the amendment—with some reservations, like my noble friend, Lord McKenzie; but it will get my support. I am not sure that it is necessary, but if the Minister thinks that it helps and if that is what it takes to move the issue forward, get the research and assessment we need, I am happy to support that. I am grateful to the Minister for the meeting between his officials and my noble friend Lord Harrison, because that is what led to him proposing the amendment. Before speaking today, I looked at the report of our previous debate in the autumn. In reading it, I wondered what had changed since them and what had not. What has not changed is the argument for examining the case for residential sprinklers. All the Bill before us today seeks to do is properly and effectively to examine the case for residential sprinklers in line with forthcoming building regulations. An excellent case has been made which does not need repeating today save to say that their effectiveness is further underlined by the fact that fire deaths have been almost eliminated in those areas which have fire sprinklers, and fire injuries have been reduced by 85 per cent. Unless you have seen, spoken to and engaged with people who have suffered horrific injuries from fire, it is very hard to understand the impact that it can have on people’s lives. Significant improvements in the safety of firefighters have been seen in places where sprinklers are in place. We have seen in this country some tragic cases where firefighters have been killed or seriously injured. As the Minister no doubt knows, that affects not just those firefighters and their families but the wider firefighter community and the country as a whole, so deep is the appreciation and affection that we hold for our firefighters. With the use of sprinklers, we see less property damage because less water is stored in properties affected by fire. Less water is used than in fighting fires with hoses, which is important environmentally. Also unchanged are those who are most vulnerable to fire—the young, the elderly, those with disabilities and people in houses in multiple occupation. In all those cases, nothing has changed that makes the Bill any less valid today than when we debated it last year. The noble Lord, Lord Best, in thoughtful speeches today and in the previous debate, outlined some of the concerns that need to be addressed. They are exactly the issues that a review can examine. The noble Lord, Lord Palmer, also made the case for a review. I think that the noble Lord can be reassured on the issue of tanks, but a review of the effectiveness of sprinklers would allow us to reassure people on other issues. What has changed since our previous debate? The first change is the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Harrison. The Minister referred on the previous occasion to the time taken by review, an issue which he and his officials have discussed with the noble Lord. By proposing a longer time for the review if it is needed and allowing us to look at his Bill in a slightly different light, the noble Lord has done the House a great service. It is not the first time that he has sought to make amendments in line with discussions in this House, and he should be congratulated on it. A further change, one of huge significance, has been in budgets for the fire service. When we last met, it was only two days after those budgets had been announced, so we were unable fully to examine their implications. I hope that the Minister has had the opportunity to read a report on that topic in today’s Independent which gives me enormous cause for concern. Many of us who have an interest in these issues will already have been in contact with people from our local areas and seen the implications of the Government’s cuts for the level of fire cover. The survey reported in the Independent shows that, in Greater Manchester, the fire service is facing cuts of £23 million over four years. Up to 200 firefighter posts are to go with 140 civilian jobs. In West Yorkshire, recruitment of firefighters has been suspended and 150 support posts have been axed. In Merseyside, 92 firefighters will lose their jobs. In Humberside, 170 jobs in all will go, with the number of fire crews cut from five to four. In Tyne and Wear, we are told that 170 posts are being lost. In Darlington, County Durham, 40 jobs are to go. In Essex, my own county, we have seen one fire station close in Hadleigh. It used to be that when you moved to Canvey Island you were given an escape route because of the installations on the island. It now has a part-time retained fire station. Cambridgeshire must find £4 million in savings and fire stations could be merged or downgraded. In Shropshire, up to 60 jobs are being lost. This has a huge impact on fire safety. I understand—although I do not accept—what the Government say on this. They want to make these cuts. However, if there are to be fewer firefighters, fire engines and fire stations, is there not a duty, at the very least, to examine properly and effectively all evidence of other ways of reducing fires in the home? In our previous debate on this, I referred the noble Lord to the Thames Gateway study, which looked at the issue of residential sprinklers being installed in all new homes being built. It concluded that, although there were merits, it was not needed. One of the reasons for this was the resources that were available to the fire service. That level of resources is no longer there. I have sat in the Minister’s place in the other place with the same folder that says ““Resist”” and ““Do not accept”” and gives the arguments—probably from the same officials in some cases. However, I say to him that this is very important. The noble Lord, Lord Harrison, would not bring this measure forward, with support across the House, if it were not regarded as something that could so positively contribute to reducing cases of fire, injuries to people and fire deaths. All that is being sought today is the opportunity to look at the issues, and to examine and use the evidence that is available. There is no new policy involved. Let us just look at the evidence so that when fire regulations are upgraded and building regulations are looked at again, that evidence can be used. The Minister has an opportunity here today to make a difference; I urge him to take it.