Samantha MacDonald

wv

Vz, campus living
as villages

27 April 2016

Ms. M Jennifer Leeming
Senior Coroner

HM Coroner's Court
Paderborn House
Howell Croft North
Bollon

BLi1QY

Our reference
Your reference MJL/YD/SJMReg28.

Dear Madam
Response to Regulation 28 report relating to the death of Samantha Jane Macdonald

We write in response to your report dated 5 February 2016 and thank you for the additional time
provided in responding.

At Campus Living Villages (“CLV”), we took the death of Ms Macdonald extremely seriously and,
having listened to the evidence provided at inquest and noted your comments made in the
Regulation 28 report, we have reviewed our risk assessment and the measures in place to protect
student, as well as worker, safety relating to opening windows.

Although CLV rents property to students at university (as opposed to adults in a private rental
setting), we remain a landlord and are restricted by leases in our ability to enter flats without notice.
Additionally, we do not consider ourselves to be in the same risk category, or with the same legal
duties (or powers), as the healthcare organisations referenced in your Regulation 28 report.
However, we wish to do all we can to prevent a future similar death and to lear from this tragic
accident.

Measures in place prior to this incident to prevent an accidental or deliberate fall from
windows

‘As was heard at inquest, the window restrictors in place at the time of Samantha Macdonald's
death had been upgraded towards the end of 2006 and complied with British Standards (BS EN
14351) which were the relevant standards at the time.

Prior to 25 October 2015, we had recognised, through risk assessment, that risks existed of a fall
from windows if window restriclors were removed or broken. To address this risk, we:

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Included a specific prohibition in ‘The Village Rules’, which students have to sign up to

when renting a property. This states ‘The window opening restrictor system is for your
safety and must not be interfered with or removed... Violation of this policy may, at the

discretion of Village management, result in disciplinary action and a fine.

Carried out checks of the flats each student term and prior to new student intake in
September, including specific checks on window restrictors. Where window restrictors had
been damaged or tampered with, CLV fixed the restrictors and issued a letter to the
student concerned informing them of the potential for fines and/or disciplinary action should
they break the window restrictor again.

Conducted specific risk assessments for specific activities which enhanced risk and set out
control measures to address risk. These included risk assessments for window cleaning
and for summer holiday rental of CLV flats when children would be present in the
accommodation.

Further action taken following Samantha Macdonald’s death

We have considered evidence heard at inquest and, following incident, undertook a review of risk
assessments relating to fails from windows.

New risk assessments specifically separating risks of an accident fall from those linked to a
deliberate act resulting in a fall were prepared and are enclosed with this response.

Preventing risks from an accidental fall

In relation to risks associated with accidental falls, associated with broken or damaged Testrictors,
or those which are ineffective for any other reason (e.g. opened for work purposes) additional steps
have now been put in place on top of those in place at the time of incident. These include:

.

A daily walk around undertaken by staff on site to check from the outside of the building if
any window restrictors have been overcome, This also assists to identify if students are
doing so to smoke from windows.

Action is taken against students in the event an issue is identified from the daily walk
around and restrictors are put back in place.

When work is taking place at CLV properties which requires the removal of window
restrictors, warning signs are put in place and separate safety procedures are developed.

We have specifically considered the suggestion made al inquest that the application of force (rather
than use of a tool) could result in window restrictors breaking. In the context of accidental falls, this
has been considered and eliminated as a real risk and one that it is controlled through the use of
restrictors complying with BS EN 14351.

Preventing risks from a deliberate act

We have considered the comments made in your Regulation 28 report about the potential use of
secondary restrictors and/ or more robust devices. As set out at the start of this report, we do not
consider CLV to have the same risk profile or duties (and powers) of a healthcare organisation,

We do however recognise the importance of identifying and helping to support the mental health of
students in our properties. We consider that the most effective way it can reduce the risk of a

deliberate act causing a fall through its windows is to focus on a mental health programme rather
than by use of additional window restrictors.

CLV is embarking on a global campaign to support those who suffer with mental health issues
whilst residing in one of its villages with an objective to become the global best in industry for its
mental health model. Todo so, we are working with national and regional charities that specialise
in the support of young people with mental health challenges and we are working in partnership
with universities to develop thinking.

This project was agreed as a global priority for CLV in August 2015 and the commencement of the
mental health initiative commenced in late 2015, This incident emphasised the importance of the
project and CLV's mental health model (whilst still in its early stages) which has developed
significantly since the incident. Specifically relevant to preventing a further incident similar to
Samantha Macdonald's, since the incident we have:

¢ Provided training to CLV staff on mental health to assist staff to identify and support issues
identified;

« Putin place key communication channels to support staff and affected residents in the
event that an issue is identified which support;

* Developed a Residential Life Programme which includes planned events, gatherings and
promotional campaigns to bring residents together and foster 2 sense of community spirit,
aimed at improving mental health and supporting those who could be suffering:

«Introduced a clear crisis management procedure in the event that it is required.

We recognise that tackling mental health issues is an extremely difficult challenge for organisations
and whilst the above measures will assist a large number of residents, CLV cannot prevent all
incidents where a student makes a decision to lake their own life. We do not consider thal putting
in place additional or more robust window restrictors is the most effective or appropriate control
measure to prevent student deaths in a normal university setting.

However, as with many other organisations and businesses in the UK, CLV is committed to help
teduce the stigma around mental health and to encourage residents to ask for help and others to
listen and support and understand how they can help. We hope that the detail provided about
CLV's commitment to developing a leading mental health model will provide some comfort to those
concemed about risks faced by students residing in CLV properties including HM Coroner.

If HM Coroner would like any further detail about the issues discussed above, please contact us
and we would be happy to provide further information.

Yours sincerely

Da

Global Technical Head of Health and Safety Reporting
Campus Living Villages.

a

Department
for Business
Innovation & Skills

Jo Johnson MP

Ms Jennifer Leeming Minister of State for Universities and
H M Senior Coroner for Manchester West Science
Paderborn House Aen
Howell Croft North London
Bolton SW1H OET

€

www.gov.uk/bis
Your ref: co
17 June 2016

Dear Ms Leeming,
SAMANTHA JANE MACDONALD — DECEASED

Thank you for your letter of 22 March addressed to the Secretary of State, about the death of
Miss Samantha Jane MacDonald, and your subsequent email of 19 May granting an extension.
| am replying as this matter falls within my portfolio.

First of all may | take this opportunity to send my sincere condolences to Miss MacDonald's
family. | was very saddened to hear of Miss MacDonald’s death.

| would be grateful if you could treat this letter as my response for the purposes of paragraph 7,
Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and Regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners
(Investigations) Regulations 2013. May |, in advance, apologise to Miss MacDonald’s family if
this letter appears overly formal. Unfortunately the nature of this process requires a certain
degree of formality. | am, however, deeply conscious of their tragic loss.

In your report you raise concerns, in respect of student accommodation, about the need for risk
assessments to be reviewed and consideration given to replacing restrictors with more robust
devices to lessen the risk of persons falling either accidently or otherwise out of open windows.

| have considered carefully your concerns and offer the following in response.

| should explain that Higher Education Institutions (“HEIs”) are independent and autonomous
from Government, and are thus responsible for their own processes and procedures. In
preparing this response, my officials have consulted with organisations in the higher education
sector and other interested parties, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the HEls themselves
to adhere to the law.

| note that the campus where Miss MacDonald was residing is managed by a private company,
City Living Villages (“CLV”), which provides student accommodation.

| understand that in response to your report, CLV have provided details of measures already in
place prior to Miss MacDonald’s death, that recognise that there is a risk of a fall from a window
if restrictors are removed or broken. in addition, following the incident they have undertaken a
review of risk assessments relating to falls from windows, and new risk assessments have been
prepared relating to accidental falls from windows, associated with broken or damaged
restrictors, or those which are ineffective, as distinct from those linked to a deliberate act
resulting in a fall. In relation to risks associated with accidental falls, CLV noted additional
measures which have now been put in place in addition to those in place at the time of the
incident.

| understand that the University of Salford has signed up to a ‘National Code of Standards for
Larger Developments’: http:/Avww.nationalcode.org/Upload/File/NationalCode_Private.pdf

| also understand the Codes are produced by a consortium of organisations - Accreditation
Network UK (ANUK), Unipol and the National Union of Students and have been developed for
purpose-built student accommodation and set the standards for the day-to-day management of
the building, including any safety issues. The Codes are voluntary schemes whereby
accommodation providers commit to maintaining professional benchmark standards for
managing large student developments.

The Codes are fully supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Officers (CIEH), Conference of University Business
Officers (CUBO), the Association for Student Residential Accommodation (ASRA), and
Universities UK (UUK).

However, my Department proposes to write to UUK, whose members consist of Vice-
Chancellors, and GuildHE, a representative body for higher education providers, by early July,
to ask them to ensure that HEls are doing all they can to ensure the safety of students in such
accommodation. In that letter we will also raise the points you have made concerning risk
assessment and replacing window restrictors with more robust devices.

| hope that you have found my response helpful. | conclude by again expressing my deepest
condolences to Miss MacDonald’s family.

Yours sincerely,
Jag Ft po-

JO JOHNSON MP