As part of Boxed Off’s pro-bono work to help a Liverpool family change the law to make multi-storey car parks safer, after 15-year old Gabe Santer fell to his death in 2020, we met the new Minister for Building Safety in November along with Gabe’s dad Johnny and the family’s MP, Maria Eagle.
The Multi-Storey Car Parks (Safety Bill) was introduced in 2023 by Maria Eagle MP and reintroduced in 2025 by Peter Dowd MP. The law, to be known as Gabe’s Law, would see the minimum legal height of guarding at multi-storey car parks increase from 1.1m to 2.7m.
In July, in response to a question to the Prime Minister in July by Peter Dowd MP, Sir Keir Starmer said the Government would launch a call for evidence on Document K of the Building Regulations which relates to minimum guarding heights
In November, it was confirmed by the new Building Safety Minister Samantha Dixon MBE MP, that this call for evidence will hopefully be before Christmas and last for 3 months.
Johnny Santer said:
“I’m grateful to the Minister for her action in moving this forward. I told her about the many other families who have lost loved ones in similar circumstances who have been in touch with me.
“I will be encouraging them to respond to the consultation and to contact their MP’s.
“The reality is that the longer this takes, the more preventable deaths there will be so I hope this is another step towards a change in the law.”
For more information follow Gabe’s Law on X, Instagram or Facebook @Gabes_law or visit www.gabeslaw.org to join the campaign.