Waking Watches

Anne Clarke AM proposed, and Unmesh Desai AM seconded the following amended motion:

“This Assembly is concerned that the number of buildings deemed not safe enough for residents to stay inside in the event of a fire continues to rise, as does the number of buildings which require waking watches.

Waking watches were intended as a short-term solution following the tragic fire at Grenfell in June 2017, but have instead become a long term, unsustainable measure with no clarity about their efficiency and cost effectiveness.

The Assembly notes that in February 2021 there were 682 Buildings in London with an interim simultaneous evacuation strategy in place which includes the use of waking watches. As of September 2021 this had risen to 1,053 buildings. This Assembly is concerned that this figure could continue to rise given the London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe’s comments to the London Assembly in December 2020 that “we do not know the full limit of what has happened inside the built environment over the past 10 to 15 years.”

The Assembly notes the concerns of leaseholders who are each expected to pay an average of £499 each month for waking watch services, yet who do not have to be informed of how a provider was chosen, how their costs break down or what work they have been contracted to undertake.

The Assembly calls on the Mayor to write urgently to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities urging the Government to enforce building owners to expedite other fire safety measures in unsafe buildings and for clear standards to be set for waking watch companies to abide by.

This Assembly also calls on the Mayor to undertake urgent work with partners to identify and produce a list of approved and reliable waking watch providers in London and to share this list through his and the wider GLA’s extensive communication channels. Additionally, this Assembly calls on the Mayor to work with the London Fire Brigade to audit the number of buildings in London that have had a common fire alarm system fitted but still require a waking watch.

Furthermore, this Assembly asks for the Mayor to urge the Government to provide transparent regulation of the waking watch industry, with the powers and funding necessary for regulation to be addressed through the Building Safety Bill”.

Following debate and upon being put to the vote, the amended motion was agreed unanimously.