Fire safety is back at the top of the social housing agenda after the recent publication of the Grenfell public inquiry phase 2 revealed significant failings across the housing and construction industries.

Seven years on from the disaster that claimed 72 lives, it is clear that while there have been improvements in the way social landlords prepare for potential fires in tall buildings – there is still a significant risk that the UK could face ‘another Grenfell’ in the future.

This stark reality is highlighted by the Regulator of Social Housing’s latest fire safety survey, which revealed that more than 10% – or nearly 2,000 – buildings over 11 metres tall owned by social housing providers “posed a threat to life”.

Furthermore, the survey showed that while 11% of the affected buildings are due to have remedial work completed within the next six months, only 84% are expected to complete in the next five years – leaving a significant number of un-remediated buildings.

The housing secretary has called the current situation “completely unacceptable” and has pledged a new action plan to speed up the process.

Meanwhile, the onus is on social landlords to be on top of the fire safety risks across their housing stock with a focus on prevention, identifying potential causes, communication with residents and keeping fire risk assessments up to date.

Recently a local authority received a C3 rating from the regulator after it was revealed it had carried out fire risk assessments for only 20% of its 9,000 homes and had more than 500 overdue fire safety remedial actions due for its high-rise properties.

At this timely event, HQN is bringing together fire safety and legal experts, regulators and housing professionals to assess the current landscape and how we should be responding to the Grenfell report along with practical case studies from organisations that are getting their approach to fire safety right.

What will be covered:

• An overview of the danger that fires still pose to social housing residents each year
• Why fire safety knowledge is essential for all housing staff
• A regulatory and legal update on what landlords need to be on top of
• Recent trends in the causes of fires including the danger from e-bikes
• Practical tips on how to successfully promote fire safety messages to residents
• Case studies from social housing organisations.

Essential for:

• Directors of Housing
• Asset directors and managers
• Health and Safety leads and officers
• Fire safety managers
• Housing managers
• Communication managers and teams.

10:30am Chair’s welcome and introduction

• Chloe Fletcher, Director, HQN

10:35am  Why fire safety is essential housing management  

• Jan Taranczuk, Consultant and advocate of innovation in fire safety, CIHCM

11:05am Fire safety campaigns – what landlords need to know and what works

• Richard Field, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Prevention and Protection,  London Fire Brigade

• Hannah Marshall, Communications Officer, LB Tower Hamlets

11:45am Break

12:00pm Legal overview and update

• Daniel Irving, Legal Director, Birketts

• Francesca Reason, Associate, Birketts

12:30pm What the Regulator of Social Housing expects on fire safety – lessons from recent judgements

• Claudia Cobban, Assistant Director of Regulatory Engagement, Regulator of Social Housing

1:00pm Residential PEEPs – the issues to look out for

• Chloe Fletcher, Director, HQN

1:30pm Close  

Chloe Fletcher, Director, HQN

Chloe has worked in the social housing sector for over 25 years since her first role in housing management with JSS Pinnacle as a trainee housing officer. She completed a Masters in Housing with Professional Qualification at the London School of Economics and then moved into housing policy, working on behalf of the London boroughs, initially for London Housing Unit and then London Councils. She joined the National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) in 2007 working with members, government officials and wider housing stakeholders to develop NFA policy and support the ALMO movement. She brings her wide range of housing management and policy knowledge to HQN as Director, working across the business and bringing her skills and experience to the whole social housing sector.

Jan Taranczuk, Consultant and advocate of innovation in fire safety, CIHCM

Jan is an experienced housing professional, with more than 50 years’ experience spanning local authorities, housing associations, and the private sector. He is now working with a group of experienced housing and technical professionals to assist housing organisations improve their services.

Daniel Irving, Legal Director, Birketts

Daniel Irving is a Barrister, and Legal Director, in Birketts’ Regulatory and Corporate Defence Team. He has appeared in a number of prominent Public Inquiries including the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Undercover Policing Inquiry and the Iraq Inquiry (‘Chilcot Inquiry’). He has most recently been instructed in the Covid-19 Inquiry. Daniel also appears regularly in the Crown Court and his practice covers the full breadth of regulatory work with a particular emphasis on financial crime.

Francesca Reason, Associate, Birketts

Francesca is an Associate in Birketts’ Regulatory and Corporate Defence Team.  Francesca works on significant health and safety regulatory matters, conducting on-site accident investigations and supports clients in the aftermath of disasters and fatalities. Francesca has a particular focus on Public Inquiry Law. She is part of the team working on both the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the Covid 19 Inquiry, advising and representing a witness to the Covid 19 Inquiry and another individual who provided evidence. For the last three years, the team have represented a core participant to the Grenfell Inquiry who gave 3 days of live evidence in 2020.

Richard Field, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Prevention and Protection,  London Fire Brigade

Richard began his journey in the Fire Service as a firefighter within the London Fire Brigade in 2001.  He served as firefighter and later as a Watch Officer at numerous fire stations across London becoming a Station Commander in 2015. In 2018 Richard transferred to the Central Operations Team based within London Brigade headquarters and in 2023 was appointed a Deputy Assistant Commissioner in the Prevention and Protection Department, where he has oversight of teams including the Brigade’s Fire Engineering Group, Fire Investigation Team, Youth Services, Transport groups and Alternative Fuels.

During his career with the service Richard has attended hundreds of operational incidents and has resolved many high-profile incidents, including the 15 pump fire in early 2024 at Emperors Gate in London, where multiple residents were rescued from the fire.  Richard works predominantly on the Brigade’s ongoing #ChargeSafe campaign, which is raising awareness about the fire risks with e-bikes and e-scooters. He is supporting the Brigade’s efforts to lobby Government to introduce stricter regulation for products, particularly on online marketplaces.

Claudia Cobban, AD Regulatory Engagement, RSH

Claudia has worked in the social housing sector for over 20 years in operational as well as governance and risk leadership roles. In her current role she oversees regulatory engagement with a wide portfolio of registered providers, focussing on the delivery of the outcomes of the consumer standards and on effective regulation of Local Authority landlords.

Hannah Marshall, Communications Officer, LB Tower Hamlets

Hannah is a Communications Officer at Tower Hamlets Council who has been working in corporate and crisis communications for several years. Hannah sits within the Council’s Housing and Regeneration directorate and has worked closely with colleagues from Housing, Trading Standards, and the London Fire Brigade, to tackle the rising number of e-bike battery fires in the borough.

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