Councillor halts move to install tower sprinklers
BIRMINGHAM City Council’s plan to install fire safety sprinklers in tower blocks has been halted following a back bench challenge.
The city’s Labour cabinet last month updated its council housing investment plans to include £19 million investment in sprinklers over the next two years, designed to improve safety for 7,000 households living in tower blocks. It needs £31 million to fully adapt all its 213 apartment blocks.
The investment was promised in the wake of last year’s Grenfell Tower fire and the city council is hoping to secure funding from Government.
In the meantime housing bosses have decided to borrow part of the money to get the work started.
But now Labour backbencher and former chief executive of Chubb Fire Engineering, Dr Barry Henley has lodged an official challenge putting the investment on hold.
He has been an outspoken critic of sprinklers, calling them a “ridiculous waste of money” and saying they protect property well but are less effective in saving lives.
He said Birmingham’s tower blocks had been safe, despite frequent arson attacks, for 50 years and would remain so.
His comments were slammed as “incorrect” by both the sprinkler industry and crucially the National Fire Chiefs Council which also pointed out there have been no deaths in tower block fires with sprinklers fitted for the last five years.
Despite this, Cllr Henley (Lab, Brandwood) has tabled a formal challenge which will be heard by the council’s Housing Tuesday. If the scrutiny committee backs Cllr Henley they can ask the cabinet to reconsider and amend or even cancel the investment. In a submission to the committee, Cllr Henley described the investment as ‘unwise’ – particularly as the many, including on the Druids Heath estate in his Brandwood ward, are being earmarked for demolition in a few years. He said: “The decision implies that £31 million will be spent unnecessarily, which is a significant financial amount. The decision is particularly significant for Brandwood Ward as we have 15 tower blocks. “This money, if ava i lab le should be spent on refurbishment not on fire suppression.” Scrutiny Committee on