Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:59 pm on 4 July 2017.
The Member raises two interesting points. I think it is something for the future to consider in terms of, initially, smoking in hotel rooms in general. The other issue about regulation of hotels is: I think what’s important here is that we don’t get pushed into a false sense of insecurity and doing something for the wrong reason. It has to be based upon the evidence provided. Can I give you assurance? I spoke to the chief fire officer yesterday and he said to me that the last thing we want to do here is tell people that it’s unsafe to live in tower blocks, because it isn’t. Providing all the procedures are in place, with fire breaks and fire safety inspections—that they are not breached; they are intact—tower blocks are safe areas to live. He says that the issue of Grenfell has brought to the forefront some real issues that need to be addressed about inspection regimes et cetera.
Installations is another one that was raised with me today by Dawn Bowden, in fact—about how the installations of some service providers may breach the fire integrity of these panel units by drilling et cetera, and installation of aerials or dishes. That’s something that I’m going to take up with Lesley Griffiths’s regulation team, to make sure that that isn’t a problem. And if it is a problem, we need to regulate around that. So, this has raised issues again, but the overall principle is: generally, tower blocks are safe, but we have to ensure that the cladding that’s been placed on these buildings—either it’s fit for purpose or it isn’t, and we’re learning about that every day.