Disability Campaigners' Legal Battle to Implement Evacuation Plans for High-Rise Residents Fails

The campaign was led by the group Claddag, founded by Georgie Hulme and Sarah Rennie, who are both disabled tower-block residents.

The campaign aimed to make it a legal requirement for escape plans to be in place for those who might not be able to get out safely in an emergency.

The campaigners took the government to the High Court, arguing that the Grenfell Tower Inquiry's recommendation of personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) for mobility-impaired and visually, hearing, or cognitively impaired residents should be made law.

However, a Home Office consultation found that implementing the recommendation would be too costly and impractical.

In October 2019, the chairman of the Grenfell Inquiry recommended that owners and managers of high-rise residential buildings prepare PEEPs for residents with mobility issues or impairments.

In response to the inquiry's recommendations, the Home Office launched a consultation on whether to implement the PEEPs proposals.

In May 2022, the government announced that it would not be introducing a legal requirement for PEEPs, citing concerns about practicality and cost.

Claddag then took this decision to a judicial review at the High Court in December.

During the hearing, the Home Office's legal representative argued that the government was still consulting on the proposals and a final decision had not yet been made.

On Friday, Mrs Justice Stacey ruled that the government had indeed decided against implementing the PEEPs recommendation, but that it was entitled to do so after weighing up the fire-safety implications against the costs of delivering it.

Claddag's founders expressed disappointment, saying that the government had prioritized money over disabled people's lives and left disabled and older people living in high-rise buildings without means of escape.

A Home Office spokesperson said they were pleased with the court's decision and would now focus on analyzing responses to their public consultation on Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus, an alternative to PEEPs. This legal battle highlights the challeng