My Lords, I, too, declare an interest as vice-president of RoSPA. I shall not take too long, however, because those who have already spoken have made a watertight case for Amendment 120 to be included in the Bill.
The truth is we do not have to convince the Minister, certainly not of the value of this amendment. He said enough at Second Reading for us to know that he would like the life-saving potential of this amendment to be built into every new house. But we have to convince him that its capabilities to prevent injury and death should be in the Bill now. He must know that every alternative to these words going into the Bill now means delaying the introduction of measures that would help prevent injury and death. It would be a fatal delay because, when we are certain that today, tomorrow and the day after, people will fall downstairs and be seriously injured or killed, we see the tragic implications of delaying this measure.
6.15 pm
This amendment is a sure and safe step forward in the fight against preventable falls. The housebuilding industry itself acknowledges it has seen a 60% reduction in falls where this particular standard, BS 5395-1, has been applied. I do not need to remind the Minister that the Government are engaged in one of their biggest housebuilding programmes ever. Let us make sure that this vital safety measure is an essential mandate for anyone who is taken on to help fulfil the Government’s targets. Let us ensure that those developers that have built things they should be ashamed of will not be allowed to build unsafe stairs again.
We are all aware and appreciate that the Minister is overseeing the enormous job of putting together measures that will prevent the reoccurrence of another Grenfell. Although he has to deal with an extraordinary tragedy, I ask him not to walk past commonplace tragedies. They, too, cause people injuries and death and, on the issue of this amendment, 10 times more. Minister, we know you believe in this amendment. Accept it in the Bill now and advance the life-saving legacy that the Building Safety Bill can be for generations of house occupiers to come.