High rise buildings - firefighting arrangements: report

7. The SFRS has existing, and in some respect, long standing arrangements for incident command and firefighting at high rise buildings.

8. The tragic fire at Grenfell Tower and the recommendations of the Grenfell Inquiry has impacted on the SFRS and on the Scottish Government. The SFRS has been a constructive and contributory member in the partnership response in considering issues in Scotland.

9. In response to ongoing developments, there is a risk that the SFRS gets drawn into arrangements that in part may reflect legislation and risk profiles elsewhere in the UK, and that may not be relevant, or wholly appropriate for Scotland. Some of the issues we mention in the report which involve development or research have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

10. While we think that the SFRS has scope to improve performance and consistency and we have made some recommendations, our overall impression of the SFRS regarding firefighting in high rise buildings is principally positive. This acknowledges that the Service is working to progress certain workstreams still in development.