Fire safety notices issued in Hampshire highest in a decade

Fire safety notices are usually served by the local Fire and Rescue Service where they have concerns over the safety of a premises.

The number of fire safety notices issued about buildings in the last year by Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service is the highest in a decade, according to new figures.

It comes as the Fire Brigades Union said decades of deregulation and complacency have created a "crisis in building safety".

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Figures from the Home Office show 1,422 fire safety inspections or audits were carried out by Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service in the year to March.

Of these, 107 resulted in a formal notification, which is issued in the most serious of cases or where fire safety non-compliance was raised previously but was not resolved.

It has almost doubled in the space of a year, up from 57 notices the year before and the highest figure in the past decade.

Across England, 2,823 formal notices were issued last year, the highest since 2012-13.

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: "Decades of deregulation and complacency have created a crisis in building safety. Ignored warnings result in tragedies, as we saw with the Grenfell Tower fire.

"Deregulation has been the dominant ideology in Westminster, driven by the lobbying of private business interests.

"Meanwhile, fire safety has been hit by brutal cuts with fewer inspectors and overstretched resources."

He said the Government must rebuild the UK’s fire safety regime and "fix the building safety crisis".

Of the formal notices handed out across England last year, 446 were for purpose-built flat buildings. This included 13 notices in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Meanwhile, dozens were for hospitals, public buildings and schools.

In Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, two formal notices went to schools. They have not been named.

The figures also show there were 43 prosecutions in serious cases on non-compliance, a significant jump from 24 the year before.

There were no prosecutions in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight last year.

A Government spokesperson said: "It is vital that people feel safe in their homes. Fire and rescue authorities enforce the necessary fire safety legislation and when building owners fail to comply, this can include pursuing prosecution.

"We will take action to improve building safety, including accelerating cladding remediation and holding those responsible for safety issues to account."