Issue - meetings

This report provides an update on all compliance and building safety streams in housing management property services and also presents a newly drafted Building Safety Policy for the Housing Management Service. This report also provides an update on fire safety at the council-owned traveller site, Lynton Close.

Cabinet RESOLVED

(1)        To note the performance update against each key compliance stream, as detailed in the report.

(2)        To note, having also considered the issues raised following presentation of the petition on the same issue under Agenda Item 5, the update on fire safety at Lynton Close, as detailed in the report.

(3)        To endorse the Building Safety Policy set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

Eligible for call-in: Yes

Deadline for submission of call-in: 6pm on Monday 14 April 25

Councillor Donnelly-Jackson (as Cabinet Member for Housing & Resident Services) was then invited to introduce a report from the Corporate Director Residents and Housing Services providing an update on all compliance and building safety streams in housing management and property services and also presenting a newly drafted Building Safety Policy for the Housing Management Service as well as an update on fire safety at the Council owned Lyton Close Travellers site.

In presenting the report, Councillor Donnelly-Jackson advised members of its intended purpose to cover three areas.  Firstly, it provided an update on all compliance and building safety streams within housing services.  Secondly it presented a newly drafted Building Safety Policy and thirdly it provided an update on fire safety at the council-owned traveller site, Lynton Close.  As further context, members were advised that following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, the government had commissioned an independent review of building regulations and fire safety management, which had led to the development and implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022 along with various secondary legislation, including the Fire Safety Regulations 2022.  As a result, the Council’s Housing Management Service had been working to implement the additional legislative requirements, including the introduction of a new approach towards engaging residents living in the Council’s high-risk blocks, around building safety and resulting in the Building Safety Engagement Strategy being approved by Cabinet alongside the wider Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement Strategy in June 2024.

Members were advised that following this, a range of meetings had been held with residents living in high-risk blocks to inform them of the compliance and building safety work being undertaken and provide an opportunity to raise any concerns and issues with housing management staff with these meetings now continuing for a second year.  This had also been accompanied by the implementation of a new Housing Management IT system (True Compliance) to improve the logging and monitoring of compliance streams and outstanding actions from compliance inspections.  In terms of fire safety and fire risk assessment (FRA) compliance, members were advised (as detailed within section 5.2 of the report) that performance in relation to completion of FRAs across the 1134 residential blocks (including high-rise and converted street properties) was 98.69% with (in the interests of transparency) 819 individual actions currently identified as overdue in 205 blocks and property management currently undertaking an audit of closed down actions in order to ensure they were being closed with the appropriate evidence.

Moving on to then focus on the Gypsy and Traveller’s site at Lynton Close, Councillor Donnelly-Jackson outlined the brief history of the site (which members were advised had been detailed within section 6 of the report) along with the specific and serious safety concerns  that had been identified in relation to overcrowding and the associated fire safety risks identified, with the site having been deemed an ‘Intolerable Risk’ following an FRA carried out in August 2024.  As a result, the Council had identified a number of safety measures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8