Fire Safety Bill (UK)

This bill details who should pay for the fire safety work on a block of flats. One would presume that the owners should pick up the bill because (1) it’s their property and (2) their decisions on faulty materials is the thing risking people’s lives in the first place!

 

Peers in the House of Lords wanted to prevent the block owners from passing on the repair costs to the leaseholders. More to the point, they wanted the government grant and loan schemes in place first so that the leaseholders don’t suffer financial ruin.

 

The government claimed these changes were ‘inappropriate and unworkable’. But how exactly is it unworkable to make owners foot the bill? There are fewer owners than leaseholders. This means there are fewer people to give loans to, so there would be far less paperwork. Being quicker and easier, wouldn’t that make it more workable that loaning to many more leaseholders?

 

To top it all off, the government said that it costs lives to delay passing the bill. By that logic, the government forcing the House of Commons to vote down the Lords’ changes delays the bill and thus the government costs lives. When one’s argument can be used to reach the opposite conclusion, it is faulty. Now that is what unworkable is.