Seven years on from the Grenfell Tower fire, firefighters have warned that without evacuation plans, hundreds of thousands of disabled people living in high-rise buildings are at risk.
The Fire Service Union (FBU) and charity Disability Rights UK said the government’s failure to implement one of the key recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s stage one report – evacuation plans for vulnerable people – meant “disabled people will continue to face unnecessary and avoidable danger and death”.
Friday marks seven years since the Grenfell Tower fire, when a blaze engulfed a block of flats in west London, killing 72 people, around 40% of whom were disabled or vulnerable residents of the building.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, told the Guardian: “To this day, the Home Office’s failure to act has left hundreds of thousands of vulnerable residents living in high rise buildings without an evacuation plan in the event of a fire.”
“It is the duty of those who own and manage high-rise buildings to ensure that occupants can evacuate in the event of an emergency. The Grenfell Tower fire was a crime caused by negligence, deregulation and privatisation. Instead of learning lessons, profits are once again being put before human lives.”
In October 2019, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommended that the government make it a legal obligation for building owners and managers to issue Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEPS) to disabled and mobility-impaired residents living in high-rise buildings. The government has refused to implement this recommendation in 2022, arguing that PEPS are not safe, practical or proportionate.
Fazilet Hadi, policy director at Disability Rights UK, said the government had backtracked on its promise to implement all of the recommendations from the inquiry.
“As things stand, people with disabilities are denied such plans and are put at risk in the event of a fire. The consequences are clear: without personalized emergency plans and strong safety procedures, people with disabilities will continue to face unnecessary and avoidable danger and death,” Hadi said.
Disabled fire survivor Emma O’Connor said it had been “a year of excuses” and renewed her call for the introduction of PEEPS.
Emma O’Connor. Photo: Alicia Cantor/The Guardian
An investigation has found that disabled residents living in Grenfell Tower were not instructed on how to escape the building in the event of an emergency, and the tower block’s landlord, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), had received a red alert about fire safety issues for disabled residents eight years before the tragedy.
Speaking to the Guardian, Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council’s executive officer for housing said it had issued 362 Peeps since 2017. Dan Hawthorn said the decision was an “acceptance that the council did not do enough to keep residents safe before the fire” and that the KCTMO’s “ultimate responsibility” lay with the council.
Responding to the government’s argument that Pepys is neither safe, practical nor proportionate, Mr Hawthorn said: “We don’t think there is anything unproportionate, impractical or unsafe in the Pepys principles. Experience shows that Pepys is workable, but we’re not saying it’s perfectly right. We’re always open to challenge and scrutiny of how we can improve the way we do things. But we think that the Pepys principles are practical, achievable and essential.”
Last year Adam Gabssi, a disability campaigner and wheelchair user, lost his lawsuit against the government after it refused to introduce Peeps. Mr Justice Stacey ruled that the government was within its rights to allow its introduction after analysing the costs and impact on fire safety.
Adam Gabschi outside his apartment building where restoration work is taking place. Photograph: Anna Gordon/The Guardian
Gabsi, who lives on the sixth floor of a high-rise building undergoing repairs and is still fighting for an evacuation plan, said he was frustrated and disheartened by the government.
“Why do they value my lease but not my life?” he asked. “I just need to be given equal access to evacuation procedures, equal opportunity to evacuate in the event of a fire. Evacuation is a human right, a basic human right. Everyone has the right to a safe home.”
The Home Office said it had implemented 11 of the 15 recommendations made to the government and was continuing to work on the remaining four, including one relating to Pepys. The department would hold a public consultation on the plans in 2022 and was working on a formal response.