Clear standards needed for post-Grenfell waking watches

Following the Grenfell Tower fire, waking watches have been used in buildings identified as fire risks, until dangerous cladding is removed.

As of September 2021, there were 1,053 buildings across London with the round-the-clock patrol system in place – at an average cost of £499 each month to leaseholders.

Despite the costs, leaseholders 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 London Assembly is today urging the Mayor to write to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to call for clear standards to be set for waking watch companies.

Anne Clarke AM, who proposed the original motion, said:

“Waking watches cost many leaseholders hundreds of pounds a month with no end in sight. This is money they hadn’t budgeted for when they took out their mortgages.

“Since the Grenfell Tragedy four years ago, building safety has become a huge and complex issue and it is one that simply can’t be solved by such an expensive, unregulated and short-term measure.

“This is why the Assembly is calling on the Government to compel building owners to expedite other fire safety measures in unsafe buildings. I also want to see Ministers enforce clear standards and regulations for waking watch companies."

Hina Bokhari AM, who proposed the amended motion, said:

“I am delighted that the Assembly unanimously supported this motion today, with my amendment.

“We need both Government and the Mayor to step up their action to support and protect leaseholders from the impacts of the Building Safety Crisis and taking action to ensure transparency and accountability of those providing waking watches is a vital part of this.

“I hope the Assembly will continue to work with all of those willing to fight for residents and leaseholders impacted and push the Mayor and the Government to take the radical action needed to tackle the Building Safety Crisis, whether on waking watches, mental health support or providing the financial support so desperately needed.”

The full text of the amended motion is:

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.