Government asks fire service to inspect over 100 buildings in Notts following Grenfell disaster

In late 2020, the Government gave fire services lists of high-rise buildings that needed to be inspected by the end of 2021.

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service was asked to inspect 120 buildings, two-thirds of which have been done, with around 40 remaining.

In June 2017, 72 people died when the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats, West London, was engulfed by flames.

Since then, Nottinghamshire fire service has also compiled its own list of 500 local high-rise buildings and blocks of flats, to be inspected in line with the recommendations of the national independent review that followed Grenfell.

Some 70 per cent of the buildings it has inspected so far have had “some kind of deficiency”, including a handful that still have the ACM cladding, identified as the main reason the Grenfell fire spread so quickly.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Craig Parkin, from the service, said: “There’s a lot of work going on to make sure it [Grenfell] doesn’t happen again.

“That so many people lost their lives in such an astonishing event is still raw.

“We set up some work with the [Nottingham] city council, made some assessment of buildings and identified about 500.

“We’ve inspected about a third of those in the last two years.”

Dozens of recommendations

Mr Parkin said 48 recommendations were given to fire services across the country after Grenfell.

If a problem is found during inspections, a joint inspection and audit team works together to decide whether the council, or the fire service will lead the investigation.

The building owner is given a certain amount of time to sort an issue – or in some cases the building, or parts of the building, will be restricted.

Mr Parkin said building owners need to take responsibility for ensuring their properties are safe.

He said: “The fire service has still got a lot of learning to do and we are trying to improve all the time.

“The demands on us are a challenge, but we’re not in a bad place at the moment.”

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