Bill for 'waking watch' fire monitoring tops £7m in London

More than £7m worth of grants has been given out to Londoners to cover the cost of round-the-clock monitoring at buildings constructed using potentially unsafe materials.

City Hall figures show 1,100 buildings in the capital have fire safety defects so severe they need "waking watches".

The Waking Watch Relief Fund was set up to pay for costs of installing alarms to replace costly warden patrols.

Since August 2021, 83 grants have been authorised totalling £7,650,113.

The Waking Watch Relief Fund was introduced by the National Fire Chiefs Council after the Grenfell Tower fire, which led to 72 deaths in 2017.

National guidance states any waking watches introduced should only be a temporary measure.

The City Hall figures were released following a question to the Mayor of London by Labour assembly member Anne Clarke.

The statistics showed the majority of buildings needing a waking watch were in Tower Hamlets (165).

Meanwhile, buildings in Hackney (87), Southwark (94) and Greenwich (73) also ranked high in the list.

Last month, London Fire Brigade Commissioner Andy Roe welcomed new government legislation based on recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

But, he warned more needed to be done to tackle dangerous structures and ensure residents knew how to escape in the event of a fire.

He said: "It is extremely concerning the number of buildings with serious fire safety failings has been at more than 1,000 for almost a year.

"It's vitally important that people feel safe in their own homes and have certainty about how to leave their building in the event of a fire or other emergency."

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