Hundreds of thousands of disabled residents in high-rise buildings are at risk without evacuation plans, firefighters have warned, seven years on from the Grenfell Tower fire.
The Fire Brigades’ Union (FBU) and the charity Disability Rights UK said the government’s failure to implement evacuation plans for vulnerable residents, one of the main recommendations from the first-phase report of the Grenfell Tower inquiry, meant “disabled people will continue to face unnecessary and avoidable danger and/or death”.
Friday marks the seventh anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, when 72 people died after a blaze engulfed the block of flats in west London. About 40% of the building’s disabled or vulnerable residents died.
The general secretary of the FBU, Matt Wrack, told the Guardian: “To this day, hundreds of thousands of vulnerable high-rise residents are being left with no evacuation plan in the event of a fire because the Home Office is failing to act.
“It is the duty of those who own and manage tower blocks to ensure their tenants can evacuate in an emergency. The Grenfell Tower fire was a crime caused by negligence, deregulation and privatisation. Instead of lessons being learned, profits are being prioritised over human life once again.”
In October 2019, the Grenfell Tower inquiry issued recommendations to the government, including a legal obligation for building owners and managers to issue personalised emergency evacuation plans, or Peeps, to residents with disabilities or reduced mobility who were living in high-rise buildings. The government refused to implement the recommendation in 2022, claiming Peeps were not safe, practical or proportionate.
The head of policy at Disability Rights UK, Fazilet Hadi, said the government had backtracked on its promise to implement all recommendations from the inquiry.
“As things stand, disabled people are being denied such plans and being left at risk in the event of fire. The outcomes for this are obvious – without personalised emergency plans and robust safety procedures, disabled people will continue to face unnecessary and avoidable danger and/or death,” Hadi said.
Emma O’Connor, a survivor of the fire who has a disability, said it had been “one more year of excuses”, and she renewed calls for Peeps to be implemented.
The inquiry revealed that residents with disabilities living in Grenfell Tower were not given guidance on how to leave the building in case of an emergency. The tower block’s landlord, the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), received red warnings with regard to fire safety issues for disabled residents eight years before the tragedy.
When contacted by the Guardian, the executive director for housing at Kensington and Chelsea council said it had issued 362 Peeps since 2017. Dan Hawthorn said this decision had been made as “a recognition that the council didn’t do enough to keep people safe in their homes before the fire” and was “ultimately responsible” for the KCTMO.
Responding to claims by the government that Peeps were not safe, practical or proportionate, Hawthorn said: “I don’t think there’s anything disproportionate or not practical or not safe about Peeps as a principle … Our experience is that you can do it but I’m not saying we’ve got it perfectly right and we’re always open to challenge and scrutiny on how we can improve what we’re doing. But the principle of a Peep is one that we think is practical, deliverable and essential.”
Last year Adam Gabsi, a disability campaigner and wheelchair user, lost his legal challenge against the government over its refusal to implement Peeps. Mrs Justice Stacey ruled that the government had was entitled to do so after analysing the costs of delivery and fire safety implications.
Gabsi, who lives on the sixth floor of a high-rise building undergoing remediation work, said he was still fighting for evacuation plans and felt disappointed and let down by the government.
“How can they put a value on my tenancy, but not a value on my life?” he asked. “I just need to be offered equal evacuation processes, equal opportunity to evacuate in case of a fire … Access is a human right, it’s a fundamental human right. Everyone deserves to live in a safe home.”
The Home Office says it has implemented 11 of the 15 recommendations aimed at the government, with work continuing on the remaining four, including those related to Peeps. The department ran a public consultation on its plans in 2022 and was working on its formal response.
