4,321 fire safety inspections or audits were carried out by London Fire Brigade in the year to March reports Sonja Tutty, Data Reporter

A front and side view of a London Fire engine — (Credit – London Fire Brigade)

London Fire Brigade issued fewer fire safety notices about buildings last year, new figures show – despite a national increase.

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

Figures from the Home Office show 4,321 fire safety inspections or audits were carried out by London Fire Brigade in the year to March.

Of these, 278 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 was down from 421 notices the year before.

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.”

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”.

Of the formal notices handed out across England last year, 446 were for purpose built flat buildings. This included 136 notices in London.

Meanwhile dozens were for hospitals, public buildings and schools.

In London, one formal notice went to a school.

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 London 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.”

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