In September 2023, in a public question, I asked Cllr Promise Knight about Brent Council's actions over safety in its tall buildings post Grenfell and in the light of the Building Safety Act. It was important given what was emerging at the Grenfell Inquiry that tenants and leaseholders be fully involved.
Cllr Knight's Answer: LINK
Photo: SkyNews.com
A further issue that emerged is that of the health dangers of damp and mould following the death of two year-old Awaab Ishak. LINK Wembley Matters has written about damp and mould in Brent Council properties on the South Kilburn Estate LINK and Landau House, Kilburn LINK.
Tomorrow the Brent Cabinet will consider a draft Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement Strategy aimed at enabling tenants and leaseholders to challenge the Council on these issues in order to prevent another disaster.
The full Cabinet papers can be found HERE and the meeting is at 10am on Monday morning. They set out a series of arrangements and commitments:
Every person who rents or owns a home from the Council is important and should have a say in how their home is managed. This document explains how the Council will listen to what you think about living in your home and make changes based on your feedback.
By talking to you and others, the Council will improve services like fixing your home, keeping shared spaces clean, managing your lease, collecting rent, and making sure you are safe.
This document doesn’t talk about every service the Council provides, but any useful feedback will always be shared with the right people.
Events like the fire at Grenfell Tower show that listening to you is the only way we can be a good landlord. Over the next four years, we will work to rebuild our relationship with you, so you feel heard. We will also show you how your feedback has been used to make decisions.
We will be honest and open with information and improve how we communicate with you. This document supports the Council's plan to help everyone in Brent move forward together.
OUR COMMITMENTS
1. Commitment One: We have a culture that respects engagement & make changes using your feedback.
How we will do this:
o We will offer various ways for you to get involved and share feedback. o Achieve the National Engagement Standard set by the tenant engagement support organisation, TPAS.
o Make sure our contractors (repairs) also offer ways you can get involved.
o We will train all new housing staff on engagement and refresh this training annually.
o We will establish a tenant and leaseholder committee to hold the Council accountable.
2. Commitment 2 – We will learn from your feedback.
How we will do this:
o We will regularly review feedback and complaints to spot areas for improvement.
o Share learning with housing staff and change our practice using this information.
o Host events each year so you can meet with housing staff and report any issues.
o We will use data to identify neighbourhood priorities and engage with specific estates to understand issues.
3. Commitment 3 – We will challenge stigma and make sure you feel included.
How we will do this:
o We will work with you to address any stigma and raise awareness among staff and contractors.
o We will ensure communication is respectful and inclusive.
o Offer training to all housing staff on challenging stigma and stereotypes about people who live in social housing.
o Make community spaces places you feel safe no matter your age, gender, sexuality, religion, ability, race & ethnicity.
4. Commitment 4 – We will make sure you influence decisions about the service we provide.
How we will do this:
o We will involve you in decision-making at both the neighbourhood and strategic levels.
o We will compensate you for your time and ensure you are part of assessing bidders and renewing contracts.
o We will work with you if you live in a high-rise block, so you feel safe and have a say on any work we need to carry out.
o Make sure your housing officer regularly inspects your block or estate and invites you and your neighbours to join them.
o Provide you with regular updates on changes to our service and how your feedback has been used.
5. Commitment 5 - We will be transparent with you and provide information so you can challenge us.
How we will do this:
o We will regularly share information with you using various channels about our performance.
o We will share the results of any consultation or engagement activity we carry out.
o We will meet with Resident Association representatives every two months (minimum) and present how we have delivered this strategy.
o We will support you in scrutinizing services and presenting findings to senior managers.
6. Commitment 6 – We will work with you to make a positive contribution to where you live.
How we will do this:
o We will promote opportunities for you to get involved in community activities.
o We will review community spaces to ensure they are used effectively and safely.
o Help you and your neighbours to apply for funding to run events and activities on your estate or in your community.
o Work with you and our partners like the Police on problems like anti- social behaviour and crime.
By working together, we aim to create a better living environment for everyone.
Keeping Our Homes Safe: A Plan from Brent Council
What’s Our Plan?
We want to make sure everyone living in our tall buildings is safe. We have a new
safety plan to help with this. The plan follows new rules introduced by Government
under the Building Safety Act 2022.
Why Do We Need This Plan?
There’s a new rule that says we must keep tall buildings very safe. Tall buildings are buildings that are 18 metres OR seven floors high and taller. We need to talk to the
people living there to find out how to keep them safe and keep them updated with
our plans for the building.
What Will We Do?
1. Sharing Information: We will tell everyone about important safety information.
2. Listening to You: We will ask for your thoughts and make sure we listen.
3. Checking on Safety: We will see if what we’re doing is working well.
Who’s in Charge?
Brent Council is in charge of making sure that the tall buildings it owns is safe for the people who live in them. We have specific people in charge of doing this:
Senior Managers
Safety Officers
Housing Officers
People who talk to residents
If you have any worries about safety in your home, you can email us at
BHMBuildingSafety@brent.gov.uk
Knowing Who Lives in Our Buildings
We need to know everyone living in our tall buildings, especially if someone needs help during an emergency. We will ask everyone once a year who lives in their home and if anyone needs special help. This helps the firefighters know who to help first.
Some examples include:
If you have trouble walking or climbing stairs by yourself
If you have poor eyesight or hearing
How We Will Share Information With You
We will use different ways to give you information:
Letters to your home
Posters in your building
Information on our website
Every year, we will have a meeting about your building to talk about safety. You can ask questions and learn about any changes we are making at this meeting. We will publish dates of meetings on our website and contact you beforehand so you know when and where the meeting will be.
Asking for Your Opinions
We will ask what you think about:
Big changes to your building and how that can affect you.
Safety checks and repairs.
Telling us about any new problems you have noticed.
New safety rules.
Checking Our Plan
We will look at our plan every year to make sure it’s working. We will ask for your help to make it better.
