The Department for Communities and Local Government has released its Fire and Rescue Monthly Bulletin for September.

The bulletin features the fire incidents response time statistics for England in 2013 to 2014 which show that:

The average response time to non-residential buildings was 8.1 minutes, a 18 second increase from the previous year.
 Over the past 10 years response times to all buildings has increased by an average of a minute and 27 seconds (23%).
The average severity of fires and number of casualties has decreased over the past decade due to the implementation of fire safety and prevention policies.

The bulletin also provides an update on the procurement and implementation of a new Incident Recording System which is due to go live in January 2015, as well as details of proposed changes to the match and cigarette tests that form part of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.

Click here to access the bulletin.

Commercial buildings, non-domestic and multi-occupancy premises in England and Wales are already forced to undertake a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment carried out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

While the overwhelming majority of premises do this, if the assessment is thought to have been carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.