Labour refuses to fund waking watches
Janet Finch-Saunders MS, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Housing questioned Minister Julie James on why the Welsh Government has refused to fund waking watches.
Residents in Wales still live in dangerous buildings
A waking watch is a system where specially trained people continually patrol all floors and the outside of the building. The purpose of this is to detect a fire, raise the alarm, and manage any evacuation.
Commenting on her exchange, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing and Climate Change, Janet Finch Saunders said:
“The Minister has chosen to provide a long-winded answer when in reality all she is saying is ‘no’. This is while six years on from the Grenfell tragedy; residents in Wales are still living in dangerous buildings.
“Welsh Government may claim that their approach was to ensure that works take place as quickly as possible, but the reality is that residents in Wales still live in dangerous buildings.
“The Minister has failed. She has failed to take decisive action to safeguard victims; failed to treat housing association and privately owned buildings with the same priority; failed to stand up to developers; and failed to protect victims from spiralling costs, such as the waking watch service.”
