'The government feel spending money to protect disabled people's lives is not worth doing'

I print below the Disability News Service LINK article about the Government's decision to not implement the Grenfell Inquiry's recommendations on personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) for disabled people living in high rise flats.

I have asked Brent Council for a comment but meanwhile John Healey, whose tireless quest for a  PEEP has featured on this blog, told Wembley Matters,  "It all comes down to money, as the government feel spending money to protect disabled people's lives is not worth doing".

With the council and private developers in Brent  totally committed to high rise development this is an issue that merits close attention by Brent Scrutiny in the near future.

 

Disability News Service  

The government has caused outrage after announcing that it would not implement measures – recommended by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry – that would have ensured disabled people could safely evacuate high-rise blocks of flats in emergencies.

The inquiry had recommended that owners and managers of high-rise residential buildings should be legally required to prepare a personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP) for all residents who may find it difficult to “self-evacuate”.

But the Home Office said yesterday (Wednesday) that it had concluded that such laws would cost too much, and would not be safe or practical, even though some disabled people have already drawn up their own PEEPs.

One of its excuses is that attempting to evacuate disabled residents before firefighters arrive could “slow the evacuation of other residents”.

The prime minister, Boris Johnson, previously promised to implement all the recommendations of the first phase of the inquiry.

The Home Office announcement came nearly five years after the Grenfell Tower disaster, in which 72 people lost their lives, including 15 of its 37 disabled residents.

Appalled activists have now called for disabled-led organisations and allies to organise an urgent campaign of opposition to the government’s decision.

Sarah Rennie, co-founder of the disabled-led leaseholder action group Claddag, said: “We are outraged by the government’s U-turn on evacuation plans for disabled people.

“The government is wholly out of step with public opinion on this – even the professional sector seem shocked.

“This policy position is unethical and our community will not accept it.”

Jumoke Abdullahi, communications and media officer for Inclusion London, said: “It is truly deplorable that, coming up to the five-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, the government has decided not to require high-rise buildings to prepare evacuation arrangements for disabled residents to escape.

“Deciding that PEEPs would not be ‘practical’ and that they would cost too much speaks volumes to the government’s attitudes towards disabled people in the UK.

“The government must do better. Disabled people’s lives and safety cannot be seen as a fair trade-off in order to save money.”

The Home Office has also published its response to a consultation on the PEEP proposal, which ended last July.

The document shows that more than 83 per cent of those who responded supported the PEEP plan, even though many of those taking part in the consultation were building owners, property companies, construction companies and trade bodies.

Instead of implementing the PEEP proposal, the Home Office has decided instead to consult on its own “alternative package” of measures, which it calls Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing (EEIS).

But this will only apply to the minority of buildings that have been assessed as being “at higher risk”, while residents of other flats, including disabled residents, will have to continue with the current “stay put” policy, which means being told to “stay in their flats as long as the heat or smoke from the fire is not affecting them”.

EEIS will involve carrying out a fire risk assessment for disabled people who would need support to evacuate from their flat.

The Home Office has concluded that any fire safety measures suggested for inside a disabled person’s flat after this assessment “should remain largely for the resident to implement and finance”, while it will “also almost always be reasonable for the resident to pay for adjustments to common areas”.

These measures, it says, could include additional handrails, flame retardant bedding and fire safe ashtrays.

Although a PEEP could still be agreed if it was “practical, proportionate and safe”, the Home Office said it believed “these cases would be relatively rare”.

Details of any residents who still had “issues preventing them from self-evacuating in the event of a fire” would then be shared with the fire and rescue service, who would be able to access this information if an evacuation was needed.

It is now consulting on its EEIS plans, and is asking for evidence of any existing PEEPs that “support the full evacuation of mobility-impaired residents, and that satisfy the principles of practicality, proportionality and safety”.

Peter Apps, deputy editor of Inside Housing, which has led coverage of the inquiry, was highly critical of the Home Office’s decision, and analysed its many flaws in a long series of posts on Twitter, describing the announcement as “miserable, miserable news”.

Dennis Queen, a spokesperson for Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People, said: “GMCDP is really disappointed and angry at the government’s rejection of the recommendations of the Grenfell investigation and those of Claddag.

“Requiring personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) for people living in high rise is really quite a minimal ask of landlords, and GMCDP has joined in with campaigning for PEEPs.

“This decision means landlords will continue to ignore best practice methods, lawfully.

“The government’s alternative suggestions do not go far enough. We will continue to support Claddag with their campaign.”

Disabled artist-activist Jess Thom called yesterday for disabled-led organisations and allies across the country to act “urgently” and make it clear that “this decision is unacceptable and will be challenged”.

She has been particularly involved in the issues around evacuation of high-rise blocks and fire safety since witnessing the 2009 Lakanal House fire, in Camberwell, south London.

Thom knew two of the children who died in the fire, and their mother, because they had attended a local children’s play project she ran.

Just as with residents of Grenfell, eight years later, they died after being told by the emergency services to stay in their flat and wait to be rescued.

Thom wrote to home secretary Priti Patel earlier this year, telling her about her connection to the Lakanal House fire, and the “indescribable” horror she felt in 2017 when she saw reports of the Grenfell fire and realised that “the warnings from Lakanal had not been heeded”.

She raised concerns in the letter about the Home Office’s decision to award a crucial fire safety contract to consultants who had repeatedly argued against introducing PEEPs for disabled residents of tower blocks.

She said this week that the Home Office’s decision on PEEPs “makes it brutally clear that the government views disabled lives as less valuable”.

Thom said the government’s decision to ignore the “clear” recommendation from the Grenfell inquiry on PEEPs, “the campaigning of Grenfell families and the powerful testimony of disabled residents trapped in buildings wrapped in dangerous cladding” was “outrageous”.

She added: “It should not be acceptable to ask disabled people to stay in burning buildings and to prioritise commercial interests over life safety.

“While this decision makes it brutally clear that the government views disabled lives as less valuable, we need individuals and organisations to urgently act in solidarity and allyship, and make it equally clear that this decision is unacceptable and will be challenged.”

Thom said: “It feels to me like they are making policy decisions based on industry’s assumptions about disability and not utilising any specialist and deeply held knowledge within disabled communities.”

She said it was “deeply troubling” that disabled people appeared to be getting “less protection and less progressive fire policies post-Grenfell than before”.

She added: “Ultimately you couldn’t get a clearer example of everything about us without us.

“Disabled lives and those of our families are on the line. Are disabled parents expected to sit with their children in burning buildings?”

 

A very thorough 2021 study  LINK  'Fire Safety in High-Rise Buildings: Is the Stay-Put Tactic a Misjudgement or Magnificent Strategy?'  is obselete with the potential to cause 'catastrophic misjudgement.'

 

ABSTRACT

 

Historically, fire incidents in high-rise buildings reveal that Fire and Rescue Services frequently rely on the stay-put tactic (i.e., occupants of high-rise buildings should remain in their apartments) during an inferno. Recent fire occurrences in high-rise buildings reveal that there are two opposing viewpoints on the stay-put tactic. First, the understanding that the stay-put tactic is a beneficial practice used to protect, control, and facilitate smooth evacuation of occupants during fire incidents. Second, the argument that the stay-put tactic is a misjudgement and futile strategy that leads to fatalities, particularly in high-rise buildings. The aim of this study was to provide awareness and understanding of fire and rescue services use of the stay-put tactic in high-rise buildings. We attempted to answer the questions: is the stay-put tactic a misjudgement or magnificent strategy?

The study adopted phenomenological research strategies with various focus groups consisting of seasoned firefighters and survivors with first-hand accounts of stay-put instructions in high-rise buildings. The study also scrutinised three case studies of fire incidents in high-rise buildings in two countries. The study revealed that the stay-put tactic is obsolete; with the potential to cause catastrophic misjudgement, mostly during conflagrations in high-rise buildings. 

There is a need to advance research on the use of artificial intelligence communication systems and infrared image detectors camera to enhance quick and smooth fire evacuation in high-rise buildings.

 

"How 'Urgent' is 'Urgent' when there's a major fire risk fault?" No repair of fire door at William Dunbar House yet

 

 Picture taken yesterday

It will be 2 weeks on Monday from when Pensioner John Healy wrote a letter to Wembley Matters desperately seeking help in getting Brent Council to deal with faulty fire doors at his South Kilburn block, William Dunbar House. LINK

Shortly after publication I was able to update the article with news that a councillor was taking up the case.

In a further article on January 18th we revealed that another door, on the 5th floor was also faulty and this time Brent Council replied on Twitter:

 Escalation as a matter of 'Urgency' was welcome but another week has gone by and the 3rd floor door has still not been fixed. (Photo above).  John Healy discovered that some flats in the same block did not have self-closing doors.

John said:

Could you question the Council as to what they mean by 'urgent'.  The council told me they carried out an inspection on the doors after your first story in WM without the pictures, which is 2 weeks ago.  Tthought the Council said 'this issue is urgent" but I have to spend another weekend at least, worrying about a possible Fire in my block.

Could you also ask them about all these flats that do not have self closing fire doors?  I assume they belong to leaseholders.

UPDATE Has Brent Council learnt nothing from the Grenfell Inquiry and are they putting their disabled residents in peril as a result?

Lawyers involved in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry into the 2017 fire which killed 72 people have described it “as a landmark act of discrimination against disabled and vulnerable people”.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council knew about the conditions of Disabled people living in Grenfell Tower but refused to provide them with evacuation plans, and housed some on the upper floors with a ‘stay put’ fire policy, the Inquiry into the Tower fire has heard.

Source Disability Rights UK  

 

UPDATE - Today, the day after this article was published Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt has written to John Healy acknowledging his enquiry of April 21st and stating that it has been forwarded to the respective department who will look into the issue and make every effort to resolve it. He said the Council aimed to respond withing 10 working days.

Readers may recall several articles Wembley Matters has published about the plight of disabled pensioner John Healy who lives in a Brent Council block on the  South Kilburn Estate.

John wrote a personal blog on March 12th  about the issues he was facing and Brent Council made the following statement in response:

"Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEP) are essential for anyone who may need assistance in the unlikely event of being advised to leave a building because of fire. We're concerned that something seems to have gone wrong here and have contacted Mr Healy to put it right."

John Healy contacted the Council and the Council could not find the PEEP request he had made and asked him to resubmit. He resubmitted and has heard nothing further. John says that officers have stopped replying to his emails.

In their evidence LINK  to the Grenfell Inquiry Bindmans pointed out the failure of the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) to assess residents' needs:

 Dr Lane finds no evidence that TMO assessed the needs of any vulnerable person in GT in the event of a fire3. This failure resulted in TMO not being appraised of the fire precautions required by RRO in order to protect residents, including vulnerable residents, and failing to advise LFB of the need to assist the vulnerable. The lack of appropriate precautions is reflected in the deaths: a quarter of the 67 child residents present on the night died and 41% of the 37 vulnerable adult residents died.These groups suffered higher death rates than any other category on the night. Yet TMO's spreadsheet emailed during the fire showed only 10 out of 225 residents listed with disabilities5

 Mr Healy is rightly concerned that Brent Council has also failed to adequately assess the needs of its vulnerable residents, putting them at considerable risk.  I would go further and say that they are repeating what Kensington and Chelsea did in ignoring the pleas of their tenants when they draw attention to deficiencies in safety precautions in their blocks. Brent Council brought council housing back in house instead of having the arms length organisation ,Brent Housing Partnership - Brent Housing has direct control and thus direct responsibility for the welbeing and safety of its tenants.

It even appears the Mr Healy is seen as a nuisance who can be ignored.  Today he wrote to his housing officer:

Good afternoon, you may be aware that the Grenfell Inquiry heard today from an officer of Kensington & Chelsea council, as he responded about why he failed to issue PEEPs to several disabled residents in the block, including many who tragically died on the night.

I myself have been asking for a PEEP since last September and I still have not been sent one.

I also need to see the evacuation policy for everyone at William Dunbar House.

And finally can you send me a copy of the latest Fire Risk Assesssment for William Dunbar House please?

Cllr Janice Long has submitted a generic  question to the Council  about PEEPs. according to Mr Healy, which gave him some hopes, but the Council has 14 days to reply, prolonging the uncertainty and anxiety.

John told Wembley Matters he had  contacted a senior officer who deals with Council policy:

 I asked him what did he mean when he said in a debate on Fire Safety in Brent's tower blocks:-

"In terms of people with special needs, we will try and relocate the residents if necessary".

The cabinet said they would review their position on retrofitting sprinklers in the 8 South Kilburn tower blocks (including William Dunbar House), once the result of the South Kilburn resident's ballot is known but they seem to have forgotten to have the review.

I have to remain in my block for several years without any sprinklers, even after the London Fire Brigade  said they could only say a high rise is safe, if they have sprinklers installed in them.

I also checked my most recent Fire Risk Assessment for my block---William Dunbar House over evacuation which says:-

"Physically disabled people should be relatively safe in their own abode should a fire occur elsewhere in the building".

Our rating is 'moderate' which says "in a serious fire there are llikely to be some deaths but not too many".

So if some will die in a serious fire, I have a feeling it is most likely to be me, or another disabled person living in my block.

Just to add, the Brent Housing officers who were dealing with me through email have stopped replying to me.  They have not responded to my Stage 1 complaint either, even though it has gone past their 20 days waiting time before they are supposed to respond.

 So this pensioner with very limited mobility and extreme deafness is left without a Personal Emergency Plan, that is required by law, on the 5th floor of a block without sprinklers or an alarm system that he can hear and with his request for relocation refused. On top of that his Stage 1 complaint made in order to get some sort of hearing has not been responded to within the required 5 days and a further 20 to find a solution. The complaint was made 38 days ago.

Is it any surprise that he feels desperate, ignored and sick with worry?

 

UPDATE: Disabled South Kilburn pensioner still has no Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan from Brent Council

After I published John Healy’s personal account of his fears as a disabled pensioner, living on the 5^th floor of a South Kilburn council block with no fire alarm system, of succumbing to a fire in the wake of Grenfell LINK as no Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) was in place LINK, Brent Council issued this statement:

 

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEP) are essential for anyone who may need assistance in the unlikely event of being advised to leave a building because of fire. We're concerned that something seems to have gone wrong here and have contacted Mr Healy to put it right.

Last year, we proactively reached out to all tenants, asking anyone who needed assistance to complete a PEEP. We don't seem to have received a PEEP from Mr Healy and will be investigating what has gone wrong here, along with Mr Healy's comments about not being able to reach us.

 

Three weeks later and 7 months since John first completed his PEEP application form the PEEP is not yet in place and the assurance he needs that his hearing and mobility disabilities would be catered for in the event of a fire has not been provided – Brent Council is failing in its duty of care to one of its vulnerable tenants.

 

John told Wembley Matters on March 31^st:

 

After 26 emails and numerous phone calls during the whole of March, they annoyed me yesterday by asking me "to clarify why I need a PEEP?".

 

In the previous 26 emails, I have given several council officers and councillors all the information they asked me for, as to why I need a PEEP but none of it seems to have been understood by any of them.

 

I now know how those Grenfell residents must have felt when they tried to inform Kensington and Chelsea council and their TMO.  To be honest I expected more from Brent Council but they have shown me that they are no better than any other council in London.

 

The council say they only became aware of my situation when I completed a new PEEP application online on the 19th March 2021 and entered it on their PEEP database on the 22nd March 2021.  All my previous emails and phone calls over the previous 6 months have no bearing on my new application,  says my Buildings officer.  In other words, he never even saw the article in Wembley Matters as it was published on the 12th March 2021, or anything else that I sent since early Sept. 2020, after returning my first PEEP application form.

 

 I made a first stage complaint, but I sent it before hearing from the council, that my application only began on the 19th March 2021. After sending in my complaint, I did receive an apology from the Lead Officer for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Community Wellbeing, which I assumed was in connection with the complaint but the officer never actually mentioned the word 'complaint' in her email.

 

Mr Healy is ready to give up and resign himself to sleepless nights over his fears for himself and other residents caught in this bureaucratic nightmare.

Surely Brent Council, which has been awarded ‘Disability Confident Leader Status’ as a provider, commissioner of services and an employer LINK, should be doing better?

 

 

 

 

Brent Council apologises to pensioner over flooded flat repair delays

Disabled pensioner John Healy has received an apology from Brent Council over delays in repairing a leak in his South Kilburn block which flooded his kitchen in September leaving him without power and an unusable kitchen for a long period. LINK

In a response to John's complaint a Brent Council officer wrote: 

I am sorry to learn that you experienced a leak in your home and of the impact and inconvenience which this situation may have had on you.

On review of our records, we recognise that there was a delay in resolving the leak into your home as it proved difficult to trace: eventually we identified that it was found to be coming from a property which is located three floors above your home. I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere apologies on behalf of Brent Council for our failings in this regard and any additional stress and inconvenience caused as a result.

The Council offered a small token payment ' in recognition of the inconvenience caused as a result of the leak and for our service failure in terms of customer care.' John has accepted the offer.

GREAT NEWS! Pensioner's power is back on

Shortly after I posted the story below that John Healy was still without power and tweeted the link to Wates Group and Brent Council an electrician from Jaylec visited John late tonight and has restored the power. John had made the appointment before the South Kilburn Housing office closed at 5pm.

John told me, 'That should be the end of my 'leak saga' which lasted exactly three weeks. The kitchen is almost dry but my carpet will probably take a week to dry out. It is nice to have everything working, even though my fridge is empty.

I am glad for John but I do hope that councillors will review this case with Brent Council and Wates Living Space to see how their communication and procedures could be improved in such an emergency.

48 hours after leak repaired pensioner still without power

Disabled pensioner John Healy is still without power in his flat in William Dunbar House in South Kilburn 48 hours after the leak which flooded his kitchen was repaired.

He was expecting a visit from Brent Council's out-sourced repairs service, Wates Living Space, to assess the situation and hopefully restore the power but they have not called.

He is without full power in his kitchen and also in his sitting room and bedroom.  He first reported the leak more than two weeks ago.

Brent Council seeks injunction in order to tackle 10 day leak flooding pensioner's flat & leaving him without heating

Brent Council this evening made the following statement about the case of John Healy, the pensioner who has been in his flat without heating for more than 10 days following a leak and subsequent flood:

As soon as we were informed that there was a leak in a property at Dunbar House, South Kilburn, we responded immediately. We attended the property immediately and identified the source of the leak. 

The leak is affecting a few properties in the block including Mr Healey’s home. We made contact with all the affected residents, and offered them temporary accommodation where necessary and other support. Our Neighbourhood Housing Officer for the area has been in close contact with Mr Healey and also offered him temporary accommodation and other relief which he declined; he has stated he is happy to remain in the property.

The resident of the source property is now denying further access, despite repeated attempts to gain entry. As this is a tenancy breach, we are in the process of obtaining an injunction. This will allow us to access the property and stop the leak, as well as carry out the required repairs.

We apologise for the inconvenience caused to the affected residents, and this anti-social behaviour from the resident at the source property is completely unacceptable. In order to gain entry, we need to follow the legal process which is why it has taken longer to resolve. Our immediate concern is to stop the leak and to offer ongoing support to the affected residents. We are also taking appropriate action on the tenant who is obstructing the repairs.”

Asked for his reaction John said:

Just for accuracy my surname is Healy and it is 'William Dunbar House'.  Over the period they have blamed three different tenants for refusing access to the source- all three preventing the repair seems a bit fishy to me. 

I told my housing officer that I was ok on Wednesday evening as I thought that the repair would be done the nest day, based on the information that the council now knew the source. They did not know it immediately as the council statement claims.

Had I known that they had not even started I would at least see what decant was on offer. I am not happy to remain in the property but I will not move anywhere until they tell me the details. I have several hidden  illnesses and impairments, so I need a suitable property that meets all my needs before I can move on to it. I am on PIP for both the Daily Living component and the mobility component. This is a DWP benefit and proves my level of disability as they have strict eligibility criteria.
 

Latest on pensioner without power in Brent Council flat for 10 days

The case of pensioner John Healy who has spent 10 days without power in his flat at Dunbar House on South Kilburn Estate has been taken up by Cllr Janice Long and will be raised at Housing Scrutiny Committee tonight and Cllr Abdirazak Abdi is also pursuing the issue with the Council.

Nadia Khan, Communications and Marketing Manager at Brent Housing Management has emailed me for details and promised to look into the matter first thing tomorrow.

Meanwhile John has written to me late this afternoon:

Hi Martin, it has still not been repaired and it may be a long time before it is.

I spoke with Marc, the council's surveyor face to face in the South Kilburn office and he says they think the leak is on the 'dry riser', which is located between flats.

Oakray have restored my heating and microwave but they say not to use them until the Wate's electrician has checked them over and he has not arrived yet.

Brent Advocacy Concerns step in to fill the PIP advice gap

Brent Advocacy Concerns are still waiting for details of their future accommodation with GPs due to move into their space at Willesden Centre in April.

Meanwhile John Healy told me that they are very much in demand:

On resuming my voluntary work after the holiday, I felt overwhelmed by over 30 emails that needed replying too. My fellow trustees  have concentrated their efforts on sorting out our office move.

I have never experienced such demand with most of the requests being from disabled people needing help with claims for PIP (personal independence payments) or help with appealing their failed PIP claims.   

Brent council have awarded several contracts for providers to undertake this work but it seems to me that disabled people in Brent are either not aware of them or they cannot access them.