A senior civil servant’s resignation letter has shed light on the government’s insufficient response to looming building safety risks with the potential for a devastating disaster akin to the Grenfell Tower incident.
As per the contents of the letter obtained by The Guardian, concerns about a possible ‘Grenfell-scale tragedy’ are being downplayed by the government. Building Safety Minister Lee Rowley received a reminder about the government’s safety obligations after his office seemingly suggested that one option to address building collapse risks could be to take no action.
The Guardian reported that in December, a senior civil servant implored Rowley to launch an investigation into the concrete used in schools and public buildings. This concrete, similar to that used in the Ronan Point collapse in 1968, led to the tragic deaths of four individuals.
Adding to the growing concerns, more than 150 schools experienced disruptions due to the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). This led to last-minute classroom closures, causing significant disruptions at the start of the term for thousands of students.
Furthermore, the senior civil servant urged the department to alert homeowners in houses built from the 1960s onwards using large panel systems to conduct structural surveys and strengthening works.
Despite the senior civil servant’s apprehensions about ‘potentially catastrophic life-safety implications,’ a spokesperson for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) justified the ‘do nothing’ option as a standard practice in policy development, aimed at understanding the impact of potential actions compared to maintaining the status quo.
In response to criticism, the DLUHC emphasized its actions after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, asserting that the government introduced some of the world’s most stringent building safety regulations through the landmark Building Safety Act. The Act also established a new building safety regulator responsible for assessing the safety and standards of all buildings and monitoring and investigating any potential risks or changes that may affect residents’ safety.
