Government responds to consultation on evacuation

On Monday 2 December, the government published its response to the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus consultation. The response sets out details of its planned approach to new requirements on evacuation. The consultation had set out proposals to bring forward a recommendation from the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 1 report around the evacuation of vulnerable people in an emergency. This recommendation was reiterated in the Phase 2 report.

The government will be introducing Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) which will be mandatory in all 18m+ residential buildings and 11-18m residential buildings which have a simultaneous evacuation strategy in place. In its response, the government has made a distinction between Residential PEEPs and workplace PEEPs. It describes workplace PEEPs as taking place prior to the fire and rescue service arriving, often with on-site staff.

The proposals require the responsible person to:

• Undertake reasonable steps to identify residents who might need support to evacuate. They must take a reasonable endeavours approach to following up if contact is not easily established, while leaving the final decision on whether to come forward to the resident.
• Carry out a Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessment (PCFRA) to identify fire risks to those residents in their flats, in common areas and in relation to evacuation. This assessment must also include potential mitigations that are practical, proportionate and safe.
• Write a Residential PEEP statement on what the resident should do in the event of a fire that reflects what has been agreed with the resident. They must make this information available to the fire and rescue service, so that they can undertake an evacuation of the resident in an emergency.
• Provide building level evacuation plans to the local fire and rescue service, for both 18m+ buildings and 11-18m buildings with a simultaneous evacuation strategy in place.

The government has confirmed that funding will be made available for 2025/26 to support social landlords to deliver Residential PEEPs for their residents. There is currently no further information available on this, but we will share more information with members once it has been made available.

Next steps

The government intends to introduce regulations to set out this new approach. It will also be producing further guidance and a toolkit of examples to support organisations to implement Residential PEEPs.

We will keep members updated on any developments around the policy and its funding. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please get in touch.