The Grenfell fire and the subsequent inquiry highlighted to role of local authorities in ensuring the safety of residents. The deadline is now the 29th of September 2023 for the council to meet all their obligations incorporated in The Building Safety Act and more importantly for tenants through The Fire Safety Order.
I missed the deadline for the last Questions to Brent Council and will be resubmitting them for the next Full Council but the urgency is such I am also publishing them here:
QUESTIONS TO BRENT COUNCIL
Q1-Do the council know the details of the residents who cannot evacuate without help, or those whose first language is not English as part of any emergency arrangements in each of the 40 buildings in scope?
Q2-Can you describe the details of the construction methods in each of the buildings in scope?
Q3-Can you provide the access and means of escape, including travel distances, in all the buildings in scope?
Q4-Can you identify all the Building Safety risks in each of the buildings in scope?
Q5-Can you provide the maintenance and inspection schedules for every building in scope using The Golden Thread of information? LINK
Q6-Can you set out the emergency plan for each building in scope, including their evacuation strategy?
Q7 Please set out your complaints system and that how you will operate an effective mandatory occurrence reporting system?
Q8- Are you now able to publish a risk assessment for each of the buildings in scope?
Q9- Do all fire doors in every building in scope meet the full standard of fire prevention?
Q10-Do you know if any of the buildings in scope have any structural issues and can you provide full details of the utilities they use and if any of them impact on common parts of the building, or evacuation plans? Does fire stopping meets the appropriate standard so that compartmentation is not compromised?
Q11- Have you identified the 'responsible person' for each block?
Some local councils appear to be ahead of Brent in terms of their public information on the responsibilities of landlords including councils. This is from Tower Hamlets:
