ITEM CA7
CABINET – 18 SEPTEMBER 2007
Active Fire Suppression Systems in Schools
Report by Director for Community Safety & Chief Fire Officer, Director for Children, Young People & Families and Head of Property Services
Introduction
1. On 19 September 2006 the Cabinet agreed the following actions:
· To review the current fire safety strategy developed by Property Services and the Fire and Rescue Service for all County Council buildings.
· To develop a “Fire Suppression and Alarm Systems Risk Assessment” as part of the new fire safety strategy process. This will require that a risk assessment is carried out in the very early design stages of a project to determine whether sprinklers would be appropriate and the level of fire alarm and detection systems required. The risk assessment process would take into account such issues as the social and economic consequences of a fire for both the school and the wider community, storage of materials, public access to the site, vulnerability of the construction to fire, security measures at the site, history of vandalism and arson, local socio-demographic factors, and access for the Fire and Rescue Service.
· In conjunction with Children Young People & Families Directorate (CYP&F) provide guidance to schools recommending the use of the Fire Safety Strategy when carrying out major refurbishments or new building projects using self finance or devolved capital funding. The guidance will also include a recommendation that schools review their current fire alarm and detection systems in existing buildings and to consider fitting, using delegated funding, an automatic link to an alarm receiving centre which alerts the Fire and Rescue Service.
· Establish a working group involving Property Services, the Fire and Rescue Service, CYP&F and the County Council’s insurers to agree the standard of sprinkler installation where the process indicates that sprinklers are required in schools and to investigate the use of mist systems in the protection of high risk areas and life safety issues.
Recent Developments
2. Following the political commitment to the installation of sprinklers, the Community Safety Scrutiny Committee recommended that sprinklers should be installed in all schools.
3. The Department for Education & Skills (DfES) is to issue a new Building Design Bulletin (BD 100) in the Autumn. This is expected to leave local authorities to determine whether sprinklers should be provided in new schools on the basis of a risk assessment undertaken in accordance with a DfES tool kit. Unless the risk assessment indicates a low risk, then DfES expectation is that sprinklers should be provided. It is unlikely that many schools will be categorised as low risk and the Building Design Bulletin will effectively result in fire suppression systems being installed in most, if not all, new schools.
4. Fitting fire suppression systems into existing buildings presents a number of difficulties, particularly with secondary schools and may, in some instances, be financially prohibitive.
Directorate Agreed Way Forward
5. Following a meeting between the Cabinet Member for Community Safety and the Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement, together with officers from the Community Safety, Children, Young People & Families and Environment & Economy Directorates, the following agreed way forward was determined.
6. The Primary Review has just commenced and should result in a comprehensive strategy for future primary provision in the County. It was agreed that any decision on the installation of fire suppression systems or other fire safety measures at existing primary schools should be made as part of the Primary Review. The Fire & Rescue Service is to undertake risk assessments to determine what fire suppression or other fire safety measures are required based on a programme co-ordinated with the Primary Review. Decisions resulting from the Primary Review will then allow for any recommendations or requirements resulting from those assessments.
7. A programme of risk assessments will be introduced to assess the needs of existing secondary schools. Any decision based on the outcome of those risk assessments will need to consider the priority for investment under building schools for the future, together with any anticipated modernisation or replacements programmes. These recommendations would need to be considered by Cabinet.
8. The out of county residential centres will be included in the programme of risk assessments.
Financial and Staff Implications
9. One experienced Technical Fire Safety Officer will be assigned to this programme. This will result in a reduction of 1100 hours per year in fire safety enforcement action.
10. The majority of new primary schools are funded from developer contributions. The additional capital cost of sprinklers (estimated at up to 4% of the capital cost) will be included in the contributions sought from developers. In most cases, the actual contribution does not cover the full costs for a new school and additional funding will be required.
11. For existing secondary schools the installation of sprinklers is likely to be more difficult and expensive. Any alternative fire safety measures will still have funding implications.
RECOMMENDATIONS
12. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to direct that:
(a) all new County Council schools and major refurbishments are risk assessed by an experienced Fire Safety Officer;
(b) all schools, other than those categorised as low risk, must be fitted with an active fire suppression system;
(c) all existing primary schools be risk assessed by an experienced Fire Safety Officer based on a programme co-ordinated with the Primary Review;
(d) all existing secondary schools be risk assessed by an experienced Fire Safety Officer; and,
(e) the outcome of those risk assessments be compiled into a report and brought back to Cabinet for further consideration.
JOHN PARRY Director for Community Safety & Chief Fire Officer
JANET TOMLINSON Director for Children, Young People & Families
NEIL MONAGHAN Head of Property Services Environment & Economy
Background papers: Nil
Contact Officer: Mike Smyth, Head of Service Delivery, Fire & Rescue and Emergency Planning (Tel: 01865 855206)
September 2007
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