Fire safety notices in Suffolk decrease amid national rise

The big picture: While formal notifications dropped in Suffolk, England as a whole saw the highest number of fire safety notices since 2012-13, raising questions about building safety standards and enforcement practices.

Key details: The latest figures from the Home Office show:

• 2,823 formal notices were issued across England, a 6-year high.

• 980 fire safety inspections or audits were carried out by the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service in the year to March.

• Of these, 28 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, down from 44 notices the year before.

• 3 notices in Suffolk were for purpose-built flat buildings.

• No notices were issued for hospitals, public buildings, or schools in the county.

• Suffolk saw no prosecutions for non-compliance.

Between the lines: There is two ways you could view this data:

1. Improved compliance: A decrease in fire safety notices in Suffolk could be viewed as a potentially positive sign of improved compliance in the area.

2. Reduced enforcement: A reduction in enforcement activity or a lack of resources rather than an actual improvement in building safety standards.

What they're saying:

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, believes it's the latter, warning of a "crisis in building safety" due to "decades of deregulation and complacency."

He added: "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."

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."

The bottom line: While Suffolk's numbers could appear positive on the surface, the national increase and concerns raised by the Fire Brigades Union suggest ongoing challenges in fire safety and building regulations across the country, including Ipswich.