Morgan Sindall among six firms charged over care home fire

The fire, on 8 August 2019, at Rolls Avenue in Crewe, destroyed the Beechmere retirement village. More than 150 residents lost their homes and possessions. Although none were injured, the fire service said the impact on their lives had been “significant”.

Biggest ever fire

The fire was one of the biggest ever attended by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service with 70 firefighters deployed at its height. The service said it has been working on the investigation since 2019, “to investigate the cause of the fire and establish any potential breaches of fire safety legislation”.

It added: “This has been a long and complex process owing to the scale of the fire and the number of parties involved in designing, building, maintaining and managing the building.”

During the investigation, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service discovered other alleged breaches of the Fire Safety (Regulatory Reform) Order 2005 at another Your Housing retirement village, Hazelmere, on Hambleton Way, Winsford. The service is also bringing charges relating to these breaches, in addition to those at Beechmere.

The service said: “Remedial work to rectify these issues has already been carried out at Hazelmere and the other ‘mere’ retirement complexes in the area that were built to the same design specification and managed by Your Housing. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is satisfied that fire risk in these properties is now appropriately managed.”

Responsibilities of the firms charged:

• Your Housing Ltd. Employed staff at Beechmere and as such was the ‘responsible person’ for fire safety measures as defined by Article 3(a) of the Fire Safety (Regulatory Reform) Order 2005. The company is also being charged in relation to its management of the Hazelmere retirement village.
• Avantage (Cheshire) Ltd. Contracted to procure the design, build and finance of Beechmere and operate the village. Avantage is a subsidiary of Your Housing Ltd. The company is also being charged in relation to its management of the Hazelmere retirement village.
• Morgan Sindall Property Services Ltd. The facilities management subcontractor to Avantage, with responsibility for responsive repairs and cyclical maintenance.
• WSP UK Ltd. Contracted to produce a detailed fire strategy in 2007 and in 2008 produce an operational fire safety manual and carry out a fire risk assessment of Beechmere.
• Total Fire Group Ltd. Contracted to carry out fire risk assessments in August 2017 and August 2018 at both Beechmere and Hazelmere retirement villages.
• MAC Roofing and Contractors Ltd. Contracted by Morgan Sindall Property Services Ltd to undertake roofing works at Beechmere between 6 and 8 August 2019.

Charges against the six firms include:

• Failure to take measures to prevent the spread of fire in the premises.
• Failure to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons were exposed for the purpose of identifying general fire precautions necessary.
• Failure to review a fire risk assessment, including a failure to review the 2009 fire risk assessment which identified defective doors to the smoke shaft.
• Failure to undertake suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment including failure to assess the risk that of LPG torches posed to the timber frame.
• Failure to cooperate and coordinate with other responsible persons to ensure that the requirements of the Order are complied with.
• Failure to maintain facilities for firefighters.

Full details of the charges the firms are facing can be found on the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

CIOB fellow Steven Miles is campaigning to change the fire safety regulations for care homes – supported by the institute and CM – after his mother-in-law died in a fire at the Newgrange Care Home in Hertfordshire in 2017. He and his wife Claire want care homes to be classified as higher-risk buildings and sprinklers made mandatory.