Labour urge more measures to be put in place in wake of Grenfell Tower fire

By Claire Dukes - 9 November 2017

Politics

The Swindon Labour Group are calling on the Chancellor to set aside sufficient money to fund the retrofitting of sprinklers in all council and housing association tower blocks in Swindon.

Labour will be calling for this at the Full Council Meeting on 9 November.

Although independent research shows that sprinklers extinguish or contain fires in 99 per cent of cases, only two per cent of tower blocks have sprinkler systems.

Swindon Council’s Conservative Cabinet have proposed inserting sprinklers in the Council’s residential tower blocks, however the Government has so far refused to provide funding for councils to retrofit sprinklers following the Grenfell Tower fire. This will leave Swindon Council Tenants to largely fund the fire safety improvements.

The Deputy Leader of the Labour Group, Cllr Steve Allsopp, will be moving a motion at today’s Full Council Meeting calling on the Council to write to the government asking for funding to make the necessary fire safety improvements.

Cllr Steve Allsopp said: “It is alarming that five months on from the Grenfell Tower Fire, still only two per cent of tower blocks have sprinklers and councils claim they have been denied funding for these vital measures.

"In Swindon the Conservative administration have proposed that Council tenants will largely have to pay for the fire safety improvements, when it should be the government paying for these urgent fire safety measures.

"The Government is failing to learn the lessons from this tragedy. I urge the Chancellor to use the Budget to urgently provide the funds needed to retrofit sprinklers, ensuring people in thousands of tower blocks across our country, including in Swindon, are living in safety and with peace of mind."

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