Cllr Sheila Bailey, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Stockport MBC

 

The tragic news from Grenfell Tower has understandably brought sharp focus upon the enforcement of fire safety regulations, particularly in relation to high rise accommodation.

 

In light of this, I have held successive meetings with Council Officers and their counterparts at Stockport Homes in the last week. These were held to make sure we are doing everything in our power to ensure Stockport’s fire safety procedures are exemplary, that residents are assured of this, and that fire safety information and advice is appropriately disseminated.

 

Within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, there are 22 tower blocks managed by Stockport Council’s ALMO, Stockport Homes.

 

Stockport Homes already maintains a policy which significantly exceeds the legal requirements for Fire Risk Assessment.  This means not only that all of these buildings currently hold valid fire risk assessment certification, but these assessments have been renewed as standard at five year intervals, where renewals are only required by law following major works.

 

It has been further agreed between myself and Officers that risk assessments will take place every three years from now onwards. Every block under Council responsibility will also be immediately fire safety assessed by an independent body of assessors as a matter of urgency. Furthermore, Stockport Homes staff, technical staff and surveyors will continue to receive annual training from trained fire risk assessors, and the Fire Service and SHL invite contractors to attend these sessions.

 

In respect to the cladding used on our buildings, only two of our schemes have cladding (Mottram Street and Lancashire Hill), and I am advised the system used is significantly different to that used in Grenfell Tower. These employ fire resistant materials, have been fitted in line with building regulations, and are appropriately fire-stopped.

However, we are aware residents will need additional assurance about the extent of fire resistance in these materials. Toward this, we have commissioned contractors to take samples and booked specialist- independent- laboratory time to have them tested.  In view of high current demand for this work this may take around six weeks, although we do expect results sooner.

Each individual flat within our multi-story blocks already have smoke alarms.  No blocks have fire alarms in communal areas, however, due to potential dangers presented by unmanaged evacuations.  This policy was developed under clear advice from the Fire Service and fire risk assessors. However, further to our meeting it has been agreed that Stockport Homes will work with our partners and fire risk assessors to investigate the feasibility of retro-fitting the blocks with sprinkler systems.

We have also sought to communicate fire safety advice to residents through the Stockport Homes Website, Social Media and a leafletting drive. Through the latter, information has been hand-delivered to every one of our multi-story homes, reminding residents of fire safety procedures and best practice. Posters from last year’s fire safety campaign also remain prominently displayed in all blocks, and caretakers continue to perform visible daily checks.

I am confident that our Officers, staff, and Fire services have so far ensured that an excellent standard of best practice has been followed across our multi-storey buildings; in relation to build quality, regulation adherence and information dissemination. Nevertheless, residents should know that if there are lessons to be learned, we will learn them, and if there is action to be taken, we will take it.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all those whose job it is to ensure our residents are safe, and to pay tribute to the heroic fire personnel and other public services who helped assist those affected by the Grenfell tower tragedy. My thoughts remain with those affected by these terrible events.

Sincerely,

 

Cllr Sheila Bailey