Lisson Green Estate - Fire Safety Information
Case reference FOI2025/00335
Received 3 April 2025
Published 13 June 2025
Request
On or about 21 March 2025 with immediate effect the Stay Put Policy in relation to all residential buildings on Lisson Green Estate (Westminster, NW8) was changed to Evacuate. I should be grateful for the following information:
1. What was the reason for the change in fire safety policy effective from 21 March 2025;
2. What information has Westminster City Council provided to LFB;
3. Is LFB now aware of the fact all residential buildings on the said Estate have external cladding, and if so, when it became aware of that fact;
4. When did LFB become aware that the High-rise Buildings registration applications filed with HSE by Westminster City Council in 2023 stated there was no external cladding and that heat and smoke detectors were installed were false and what action did it take; and,
5. Please supply all relevant documentation in relation to each answer to questions 1 to 4 (inclusive) above, and any other documentation sought to be relied upon in support of its own actions or omissions.
Response
Please see my response for each of your queries in turn below:
1.What was the reason for the change in fire safety policy effective from 21 March 2025;
Our Fire Safety Regulatory department have confirmed that the responsibility for communicating changes in fire safety policies, including evacuation strategies, lies with the Responsible Person for the building. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, in this instance Westminster City Council (WCC) or their appointed management team.
Our Fire Safety Regulatory department confirmed that WCC contacted LFB by phone to inform them that, following a Fire Risk Assessment completed by an independent competent risk assessor, 23 buildings from the Lisson Green estate would be moved to Simultaneous Evacuation. In a meeting that evening WCC then provided us with details of their plan to mobilise up to 52 fire wardens, a drop in space for residents and details of work done so far to remediate the buildings
2.What information has Westminster City Council provided to LFB;
The information described in response to question 1 was provided verbally however, I have included a copy of the Fire Station Notification form completed by the LFB Inspecting Officer who received the information to this response. This includes details of the information passed over from WCC to the LFB and can be found on pages 115-118 of the PDF file attached to this response (‘FOI2025_00335 Attachments for disclosure_Redacted’). The LFB internal email with our record of the change is included in on pages 1-2 of the PDF file. Please note, personal data has been redacted from the attached documents under section 40 of the FOI act – personal information.
3. Is LFB now aware of the fact all residential buildings on the said Estate have external cladding, and if so, when it became aware of that fact;
Our Fire Safety Regulatory department were made aware of the premises having some form of cladding in May 2021. This was information gathered during internal LFB Building Risk Register (BRR) high rise assurance questionnaires.
4.When did LFB become aware that the High-rise Buildings registration applications filed with HSE by Westminster City Council in 2023 stated there was no external cladding and that heat and smoke detectors were installed were false and what action did it take;
Any planning or building control applications are submitted to the HSE with the LFB being a statutory consultee. At the time of writing (05 June 2025), the LFB Fire Safety Regulatory department have not received any applications for consultation from the HSE regarding the Lisson Green estate.
5.Please supply all relevant documentation in relation to each answer to questions 1 to 4 (inclusive) above, and any other documentation sought to be relied upon in support of its own actions or omissions
I have attached a list of documents disclosed in PDF file ‘FOI2025_00335 Attachments for disclosure_Redacted’ to this response (this document is named ‘FOI2025_00335 List of documents considered for disclosure’).
As referenced in my response to question 2, I have included the documents provided by the Fire Safety Regulatory department in relation to the March 2025 change of strategy in the PDF file attached to this response.
I have also attached the 2021 Building Risk Register (BRR) high rise assurance questionnaires held on the Fire Safety Regulatory department case file that are referenced in question 3 alongside any internal covering emails and desktop fire safety audit forms completed at the same time as the BRR assurance questionnaires (that provide more information held about the cladding). Please note, personal data has been redacted from the attached documents under section 40 of the FOI act – personal information.
There are some documents held on file that I have withheld from disclosure, details of which are included on ‘FOI2025_00335 List of documents considered for disclosure’. When the BRR assurance questionnaires were completed in 2021, they reference the Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) documents held on file. As the enforcing authority under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, 2005, (RRO) the Brigade does not provide, or carry out fire risk assessments (FRA) as this is the responsibility of the responsible persons (RP). Whilst on some occasions the RP may provide documents to the Inspecting Officer (IO) we are under no obligation to retain them. Copies of historical FRA documents are held on the internal BRR emails sent in 2021 for the following buildings:
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COTTESLOE HOUSE |
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DINTON HOUSE |
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FINGEST HOUSE |
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HORWOOD HOUSE |
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HUGHENDEN HOUSE |
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JORDANS HOUSE |
|
OLNEY HOUSE |
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PADBURY HOUSE |
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SWANBOURNE HOUSE |
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TICKFORD HOUSE |
|
TURVILLE HOUSE |
|
VERNEY HOUSE |
|
WYCOMBE HOUSE |
Documents provided to us by the Responsible Person for the building (such as FRA) are exempt from access via the FOIA provisions. We consider these to be exempt under Section 31 of the FOIA (“law enforcement” –Section 31(1)(g) combined with 31(2) (a) and 31(2) (c)). We are of the view that the correct balance between the public interest in building safety and our ongoing regulatory involvement lies in making information about enforcement action available (formal or informal) to those that request it, but in withholding the supporting information and evidence gathered during regulation activities.
Information held on the Fire Safety Regulatory Department system dated after your FOI request was received
We acknowledge that our response to your FOI request received on 03 April 2025 was delayed. When our Fire Safety Regulatory department provided me with the information held on files for the 24 buildings that make up the Lission Green estate, a lot of information provided was dated after we received your FOI request on 03 April 2025. However, on review of these documents, I understand they may be of interest to you as they relate to the subject matter of your FOI request. In the interest of transparency I have included documents held on the Fire Safety Regulatory department files dated after 03 April 2025. These can be found on pages 155 onwards of document ‘FOI2025_00335 Attachments for disclosure_Redacted’ and I have included them on the list of documents disclosed in PDF file ‘FOI2025_00335 List of documents considered for disclosure’.
Details of the further documents included is provided below:
In April 2025 the change of strategy was updated for three of the buildings that make up Lisson Green estate (Chequers, Hughenden and Missenden). I have I have included the documents provided to me by the Fire Safety Regulatory department in relation to the April 2025 change of strategy in the PDF file attached to this response. I have attached a copy of the Fire Station Notification form completed by the LFB Inspecting Officer who received the information to this response. This includes details of the information passed over from WCC to the LFB and can be found on pages 156-159 of the PDF file attached to this response (‘FOI2025_00335 Attachments for disclosure_Redacted’). The LFB internal email with our record of the change is included in on pages 155 of the PDF file. Please note, personal data has been redacted from the attached documents under section 40 of the FOI act – personal information.
In May 2025, fire safety audit inspections were conducted at 23 of the 24 buildings that make up the Lisson Green estate (Penn was not audited). The result of these audits confirmed that some fire safety matters require attention to reduce the risk of fire and/or reasonably ensure the safety of people using the premises and these matters need to be addressed in order to comply with Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order). As a result, two informal notification of (fire safety) deficiencies (NOD) letters were issued for the buildings. When issuing a NoD the expectation is that the issues are minor enough that they can be rectified without needing any formal intervention from the LFB (which is different to an Enforcement Notice). As such, it would be for the Responsible Person(s) of the premises to be satisfied the deficiencies noted are addressed appropriately and within the recommend time frame. The LFB will then check these issues when the property is visited at the next routine inspection (according to the level of risk).
I have included a copy of the two NoD letters to ‘FOI2025_00335 Attachments for disclosure_Redacted’. One NoD letter covers Chequers, Hughenden and Missenden only and the other letter is for the remaining buildings (except for Penn). Please note, personal data has been redacted from the attached documents under section 40 of the FOI act – personal information.
We also hold a copy of the Fire Safety Audit report forma that resulted in the NoD letters being issued. Where a Fire Safety audit results in a notice being issued by the LFB, the reports themselves are exempt from release under the FOIA provisions under Section 31 of the FOIA - law enforcement (Section 31(1)(g) combined with 31(2) (a) and 31(2) (c)). The LFB freely provide the outcome of Fire Safety Audits and notices issued under Freedom of Information act and we understand that there is public interest and concern about knowing about the fire safety of the buildings in which people live, work or visit. However, we need to maintain a balance between the public interest in safety and Inspecting Officers ability to work with the Responsible Person(s) to take full contemporaneous notes (that are recorded on the audit forms) and enter in discussions with those involved to enable them to explore all aspects of the case and then arrive at a decision as to the appropriate action to take.
A list of the documents held on file that I have withheld from disclosure are included on ‘FOI2025_00335 List of documents considered for disclosure’.
Documents
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