fire safety | Schools Week

DfE sprinklers plan leaves most schools ‘exposed to fires’, warn campaigners

The government’s proposal to only advise the use of sprinklers in some new schools will leave the majority “exposed to fires”, education unions and fire safety experts have warned. In a letter to education secretary Gavin Williamson, 23 organisations said it was “incomprehensible” that the Department for Education had snubbed calls to have sprinklers in […]

Small academy trusts told to use reserves to fund urgent safety repairs

The government has warned small academy trusts and sixth form colleges they will be denied funding for urgent health and safety repairs if they could use their own reserves instead. The Department for Education published revised guidance on “urgent capital support” (UCS) funding today, tweaking eligibility rules. The UCS pot is earmarked for “urgent condition […]

Fire chiefs to challenge government over ‘backward step’ of sprinklers plans

Fire chiefs are set to challenge a government consultation on sprinklers in classrooms, claiming the proposals are “taking the standards of fire safety in schools backwards”. A long-awaited consultation to the Fire Safety Design for Schools bulletin was launched last month. The non-statutory guidance proposes that automatic fire suppression systems – such as sprinklers – […]

DfE snubs calls for sprinklers in all new schools

The Department for Education (DfE) is planning to amend guidance to recommend fire suppression systems – such as sprinklers- be installed in all new special schools and new school buildings with a floor level above 11 metres. A revised Fire Safety Design for Schools bulletin was published today setting out its changes as part of […]

Sprinklers still not mandatory for school rebuilding projects

Sprinklers are unlikely to be made mandatory in the 50 school rebuilding projects announced last week because the government’s consultation into fire safety has been delayed. The Department for Education has committed to revising its guidance on fire safety design for new schools. The current guidance says that all new schools should have fire sprinklers […]