Brent’s Affordable Council Housing – open and transparent?

Guest post by Philip Grant in a personal capacity

 

I’ve already written about the Morland Gardens parts of the Affordable Housing Supply Update report to next week’s (11 December 2023) Cabinet meeting, and Martin has also posted a blog about the temporary accommodation proposals in its South Kilburn section. In this article I will cover some of the other points that caught my eye from that report.

 

I am not seeking to underestimate the “challenges” which the Council faces over meeting current housing needs, particularly over the shortage of Central Government funding, rising construction costs and higher interest rates since the disastrous mini-budget during the short-lived Truss premiership. Brent has aimed to do more over housing than many other London Councils, and the recommendations in this report include to ‘approve the use of usable Capital reserves to fund’ the New Council Homes Programme (“NCHP”), and to provide extra resources to tackle the current temporary accommodation crisis. 

 

A recent feature of such reports is a “Cabinet Member Foreword” (though whether these are written by the Lead Members, or for them by a Council Officer, is unclear). I was struck by these words from this Foreword’s para. 3.5: ‘this report emphasises the importance of being open and transparent with all ….’ I agree that openness and transparency are very important, but does this report deliver on those words?

 

In the report, are the Council being honest about what they have achieved so far? The Cabinet Member for Housing says: ‘we are on track to meet our target of 5,000 homes by 2028’. When the NCHP target was first launched five years ago, the aim was 5,000 affordable homes built in the borough between April 2019 and March 2024 inclusive. As part of that aim, the Council set itself ‘a strategic target of delivering 1,000 new council homes at genuinely affordable rent by 31 March 2024.’ So, they’ve missed that target, and replaced it with another!

 

 

Table 1 in the report (above), which should be accurate because the “numbers” have been “cleansed”, shows that 3,901 affordable homes will have been finished in the borough in the five years to March 2024 (although the “by tenure” column totals 3,943! - see my corrections in red). 812 of those are shown as delivered by Brent Council. But only 560 (those described as “General Needs”) of the new Council homes will be “genuinely affordable”, and of those 235 were for existing Council tenants being moved from older blocks due to be demolished. 

 

The affordable homes provided by RPs (Registered Providers of social housing, such as Housing Associations) make up 3,089 of the 3,901 total, but only 940 of those homes appear to be “genuinely affordable”. That is just over 30% of the total, with the rest being “intermediate” homes, such as shared ownership. Although most of these will have received planning consent before Brent’s Local Plan came into force in February 2022, that is the opposite of the tenure split for affordable housing which is now supposed to apply: 70% genuinely affordable and no more than 30% “intermediate” affordable housing.

 

More details about the types of “affordable housing” can be found in an article, Brent’s Affordable Council Housing – figuring out Cllr. Butt’s reply, which I wrote after a previous Cabinet update in November 2022.

 

The report has a section headed “Schemes on site and in main works contract”, and there are two schemes in particular from this that I would draw attention to. The first of these is Watling Gardens, the Council’s positive publicity over the start of work on which was mentioned in another article on Brent’s Council housing in October.

 

 

While the report says that this scheme ‘is currently on track’, it would cost more than the £38.5m which Brent’s Cabinet approved as the contract award price in June 2022. Brent’s answer is to issue an instruction that the project must be “value engineered”. What does that mean? It means that it will still have to built as planned, but using some materials which are less expensive than those originally intended. Previous examples of “value engineering” which come to mind are the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in some public buildings during cost saving measures in the 1960s to 1980s, and the £300k “saved” by using cheaper cladding when Grenfell Tower was being refurbished!

 

The stage and TV drama, where all the words were taken directly from Inquiry transcripts!

 

I’m not trying to suggest that the cost saving at Watling Gardens would result in anything as life-threatening as Grenfell Tower, but in the interests of transparency the public, and particularly future residents of the development (including those whose homes were demolished with the promise of a replacement there), deserve to be told what cheaper materials will be used as part of this “value engineering”.

 

I have written about Brent’s Wembley Housing Zone project on a number of occasions, including about the extra GLA funding it received, and about the 152 out of 250 homes on the former Copland School site at Cecil Avenue which Brent’s “developer partner” will get for private sale, rather than being Council homes for Brent people in housing need. The report now says there will be less than 250 homes, because of the need for extra staircases, as a result of fire safety changes following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

 

 

I’m pleased to see that Brent appears to have learned one lesson from Morland Gardens (the need to begin work before planning consent expires), but why has it taken nearly three years to get to this stage? However, the report does not say how many of the new figure of 237 homes will be for private sale, and how many of those left for the Council will now be for “genuinely affordable” rent, rather than shared ownership. A lack of openness, which I will try to remedy!

 

You need to read to the end of the report, on page 21, to find out what it means by ‘the importance of being open and transparent’, which I quoted near the start of this article. It appears that, to Brent Council and its Cabinet, this is more to do with the messages it gives out, rather than a commitment to being genuinely open and transparent about everything:

 

 

In other words, it is the usual “spin” that Brent Council puts out, either only sharing “good news” stories (usually with the Leader and/or one of his Cabinet colleagues getting the credit for something positive) or giving the reasons (excuses?) for why they can’t do what they had originally promised to deliver.

Philip Grant

 

Disabled leaseholder group starts fire safety legal action against Government

 From Disability Rights UK LINK

The Disabled leaseholders group Claddag has started judicial review proceedings against the Home Secretary for awarding a contract to produce guidance which includes the means of escape for Disabled people from fire to CS Todd & Associates Ltd.

In a statement it said: “Given Mr Todd consistently advocates against evacuation plans for Disabled people, and was the only expert of four to do so in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, we do not feel it is right for him to have this influence and authority over the safety of disabled people.”

Paralympian and disability rights campaigner, Baroness Grey-Thompson also raised grave concerns in the House of Lords last week. She spoke of the poor fire safety guidance and practice that ultimately led to 41% of Disabled residents of Grenfell Tower losing their lives in the 2017 fire. She highlighted the Government’s failure to implement the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to place a legal duty on owners and agents to prepare Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) for Disabled residents unable to self-evacuate, despite a consultation ending on 19 July 2021, and spoke of the Government awarding the contract to produce new fire safety guidance to a fire safety expert whose testimony was rejected by the chair of the Grenfell Inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, and who had made offensive comments on online fire safety forums about Disabled people.

Fazilet Hadi, Head of Policy at DR UK said: “DR UK has also written to the Secretary of State seeking reassurance that the Government intends to implement the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations on PEEPs. We have asked when the new regulations on PEEPs will be laid before Parliament, and we have asked for a review of the award of the contract in the light of Equality Act duties.”

 

Brent Council statement on high-rise blocks safety

Brent Council has posted the following statement on its website LINK:

High-rise safety in council blocks

Many residents living in high-rise blocks across the country will naturally be concerned so within Brent, the council and Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) have moved quickly to do extra checks and double checks of our high-rise blocks so that we are able to provide our residents with the reassurances they deserve. In Brent the facts are:

• We have 37 high-rise blocks in Brent and all 37 are 100% fire risk assessment compliant.
• We have never used Rydon Limited or Harley Facades Limited, the contractors who worked on Grenfell Tower, anywhere in Brent.
• Estate inspectors and compliance experts have visited all 37 high rise blocks, including communal areas and exit routes to remove any remaining rubbish, bicycles and other hazards which could hinder access and exit in an emergency.
• More than £10million has been spent over the past 4 years on measures to reduce the risk of fires in council run properties across the borough.

For details on all 37 high-rise blocks in Brent and the status of each of their fire risk assessments, please check the fire safety information here. [Ed: when I last accessed it this doesn't include Quintain development in Wembley or Octavia's Elizabeth House in Wembley High Road]

Council blocks with cladding

One high-rise block, Watling Gardens, has cladding. However, the cladding used is completely different to the cladding used at Grenfell Tower. We have double checked and the cladding is a non-combustible mineral wool material that would not promote the spread of flames externally and is in compliance with current British standards. However, we are not taking anything for granted and will also be commissioning our own independent checks on the cladding as well and report the results of this to residents in Watling Gardens as soon as possible.

Registered housing providers – high rise blocks

Aside from the assessments we have been carrying out across the Council’s own housing stock, we have also been in contact with all registered housing providers in Brent to ensure that the same thorough assessments are being carried out on their buildings as a matter of urgency, specifically on high-rise and cladded buildings. We have also asked them to communicate with residents to provide them with reassurance regarding their homes.

The list of registered providers in Brent is as follows: Family Mosaic, Notting Hill Housing, Hyde Housing, Genesis, Innisfree, JL Living, Catalyst, Metropolitan, Network Homes, Octavia, Origin Housing, Homegroup and L&Q Group. We will provide links to updates on this web page when they become available.

Private housing – high rise blocks

In terms of other private buildings and properties across the Borough, the main developer in Brent is Quintain who we contacted shortly after the Grenfell fire and they have confirmed that all of their new build residential blocks meet fire safety standards. We are waiting to hear back from other private developers in Brent and will provide links to updates on this page as they become available.

The council, as a planning authority, is not involved in assessing planning applications against fire safety as this is covered by other Government legislation, in this case, Building Control regulations. When a developer is building, they can choose whether to use the Council as building inspectors, or an accredited inspector. If they choose the latter, the council is not responsible for oversight of the work.

The council regularly reviews its fire risk assessments, servicing and maintenance programmes in all accommodation blocks and will continue to do so to ensure our residents are always kept safe. Once the findings from the Government’s emergency review into fire safety in tower blocks are known we will of-course review and, if needed, amend our fire management processes and strategy as a matter of urgency.

Duffy calls for special Full Brent Council meeting on post-Grenfell action

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Cllr John Duffy has written to all Brent councillors seeking support for his call for a special Council meeting to review the situation in Brent following the Grenfell tragedy:

We are all aware of the fall out of the disaster of Grenfell Tower and the knock-on affect in Camden. Swiss Cottage is  not far from Kilburn and the issue is tangible on Kilburn High Road and is concerning residents.

I have spoken to officers who seem to be doing a reasonable job, however Brent have some decision we need to make particularly in South Kilburn and Stonebridge. 

I was shocked  when I saw the state of the internal repairs in the blocks in Camden, no fire protection on gas pipes and lack of maintenance on fire doors. Camden have questions to ask themselves who was doing the installation and who was signing it off.

Camden problems of poor maintenance maybe be reflected in our own maintenance programme. Therefore we need to take action, we also have to look at our regeneration programme and our housing stock to see if we can retro-fit sprinkler systems. I have heard on Sky News that Brent may be affected, but I have not heard anything from officers to confirm this.

We as a council need to meet to discuss options, like do we wish to ensure all new blocks in the regeneration areas are fitted with sprinklers, do we retro fit older blocks, the logistics of doing so, the cost  and the timetable. We also need to discuss our emergency planning operation to ensure we are able to decant residents ( we recently used in the evacuation plan around Brondesbury Park) and  do we have short and medium term accommodation available.

I am writing to the Mayor, Leader and CEO asking them to call an urgent meeting meeting for Monday 3^rd July , this will allow officers to prepare an options report  to update councillors and allow councillors to ask  relevent questions and to look at options.

I am aware we are having a calendered meeting on the 11^th of July, but I believe we need a dedicated meeting , without the usual political divisions. Janice Long sent us something recently about Social Housing in the aftermath, which highlight a lot of the problems we are about to face.

Quintain issues fire safety assurance for its highrise Wembley development

Quintain have issued the following statement in response to  enquiries about the safety of its high rise development in Wembley Park:

We take our health & safety obligations at Wembley Park extremely seriously and were deeply saddened to witness the terrible events at Grenfell Tower. We are building a large scale mixed use development and with that comes a responsibility to ensure the safety of all the workers, visitors and residents at Wembley Park.

All of our residential buildings are new build. None of our residential buildings are refurbishments and each building has a fire safety strategy that has been developed in conjunction with a leading fire specialist, Jeremy Gardner Associates, who we have worked with for over 10 years.

All of our buildings are fully compliant with building regulations and their designs were approved by both the London Borough of Brent Building Control and The London Fire Brigade.

We have used high quality building materials throughout our development at Wembley Park and as the owners of the 85 acre estate we have professional onsite management, including regular building inspections, fire risk assessment by independent professional fire risk assessors and tenant liaison.

Rydon Construction is on London Mayor's London Development Panel

Indro Sen addressing the recent UCU Congress

Open letter to the Mayor of London, in response to his open letter to the Prime Minister dated 18 June 2017 by Indro Sen, a friend and a caseworker of one of the  Grenfell Tower victims

Mayor of London

Mr. Sadiq Khan

City Hall

The Queen's Walk
London SE1 2AA

 20 June 2017

Dear Mr. Khan,

It is commendable that you have written your open letter highlighting, quite rightly, in my view, some of the concerns faced by poorer and powerless sections of our community of all colour, creed and political persuasion, who live in tower blocks up and down the country, whose voices of concern with regards to health and safety have not been heard by landlords for a long time.

My name is Indro Sen.  I taught in a college, the College of North West London in Brent for the last 11 years, and have been informed that one of our staff member who used to live in Grenfell Tower was released from hospital following the fire at her residence. She is currently staying in a hotel and awaits being rehoused permanently at a place of her choice. I hope those in power will carry out the promises given to her and other inhabitants of Grenfell Tower as well as those living in similar accommodation elsewhere. 

The reason for writing to you is because of what I have recently learnt about your plans to deliver affordable housing to Londoners in line with your election promise, which, in my view does not sit comfortably with the following passage in your open letter to the Prime Minister.  I quote the relevant section below.

You say under the sub heading:

Tower block safety

“Residents I spoke to are worried about the risk of this tragic incident happening elsewhere – particularly in tower blocks that have had similar cladding installed as part of renovations.

People are terrified that the same thing could happen to them. I raised this with Ministers on Wednesday and Thursday, and they agreed to lead coordinated efforts to ensure that all other tower blocks across the country are indeed safe.

This issue is not limited to the type of cladding fitted; the material it is attached to and how this has been achieved are also critical factors.”

What I have recently learnt is that you have set up a team of builders/constructors known as LDP (London Development Panel) LINK, which includes amongst its member Rydon Construction Limited, one of the contractors that have featured in newspaper reports as responsible for providing cladding around Grenfell Tower.

I believe it is a matter of public interest that your office discloses the process/due diligence carried out by your office in selecting this panel of constructors so that Londoners who might benefit from affordable housing will know that these constructors have been selected properly having carried out checks.

I note that you have urged the Prime Minister that the public enquiry produces an interim report. May I invite you to submit your selection procedure for this panel together with the names of 25 LDP members (or any additional members since their selection) to the panel of enquiry and further invite you to declare a moratorium on any building works or plans carried out by any of the LDP panel members until the interim public enquiry report makes clear findings of fact so that the public are assured that none of your panel members are in any way responsible for or contributed to the Grenfell tragedy. 

In addition you should investigate whether any of these LDP members have cut corners with regards to other high-rise buildings, or buildings used by Londoners as you have quite correctly, asked the Prime Minister to investigate the contractors and/or builders responsible for high rise buildings including Grenfell Tower on behalf of the residents.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you need any clarification with the subject matter of this letter.

Indro Sen

The LDP Panel from GLA website LINK

Barry Gardiner invites Brent tower block residents to fire safety meeting on Monday

Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North has invited residents of tower blocks in Brent to a meeting on Monday 19th June 7.30pm at St James Church Alperton, 34 Stanley Avenue, HA0

4JB.

In the letter he tells the residents that the primary purpose of the meeting will be to listen to existing concerns about fire safety matters and how suggestions and complaints are handled.

The Borough Fire Commander and Brent Council Chief Executive have been invited or to send substitutes along with the Chief executives of local Housing Associations.

Gardiner states:

Such tragedies (Grenfell Tower) are less likely to happen when there is transparency and good communications between residents and manager of the property. It is my hope that the meeting can help ensure that this is the case.

Gardiner's initiative is welcome, particularly as Brent Council response in the Guardian/Observer today LINK seems to cast doubt on the earlier comment it made to the Kilburn Times LINK.

The Guardian:

 Councils in Coventry, Sandwell, and the London boroughs of Newham and Brent were unable to say if they had carried out any inspections or even how many tower blocks they had.

The Kilburn Times:

In a report shown to the Brent&Kilburn Times, housing chiefs have set up a six-point action plan which includes checks that claddings applied to the outside of buildings are fire rated.

They are also liaising with the London Fire Brigade (LFB) to seek clarity and guidance around the “self evacuation” vs “stay put” briefing as many block residents are told to stay in their properties in the event of a fire.

The inclusion of Housing Associations in Monday's meeting is important because several of our local ones are now in the business of 'building to rent' or acting as managers for sites built by others. LINK

Join in with #GreenforGrenfell school action June 23rd

 

 

Schools are coming together in support of the victims of Grenfell Tower, with a 'Green for Grenfell' dresscode on 23 June 

 

Schools across west London are set to unite to raise money for people affected by Wednesday's tragic fire at Grenfell Tower.

The Fulham College Academy Trust is urging pupils and staff to show their support and solidarity by donating money and wearing #GreenforGrenfell on 23 June.

The idea has struck a chord across the tri-borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster, with 50 schools pledging to take part in just 12 hours.

All money donated will go to the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation’s Grenfell Tower Appeal, which has been set up with the support of the London Emergency Trust Fund. You can donate here. Use the hashtag #GreenforGrenfell on Twitter.

I hope some Brent schools will join in. This is how one school is taking part:

 

Teacher unions' joint statement on supporting children after Grenfell

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Grenfell: Joint statement by ATL, AEP, NAHT and NUT about need for housing for the children who survived and for support for their schools & classmates.

  "In the aftermath of the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower,  teachers, school leaders and psychologists offer their deepest sympathy to the thousands of people whose lives have been affected by it. We give our sincere respect, once more, to our valiant emergency services. 

We call on the government and on the local authority to support the magnificent work of local schools and  take immediate measures to provide for the security, shelter and well-being of North Kensington’s children.

All families who have been affected by the fire should be housed as quickly as possible in high-quality accommodation in the immediate area, if that is what they wish.

School is one area of children’s lives which can provide them with care and stability.  It is essential that children continue to attend their own school, with teachers and other staff who know them and can support them, and their families.  We know that those who work in education are rising to this challenge. They will need the full support of those around them. 

All schools which have on their roll children from Grenfell Tower, and the area around it, must be provided with counsellors and other necessary resources.  

The government and the local authority must ensure that provision is in place throughout the summer months, and in the years ahead.

The residents of Grenfell Tower feel that they have been failed by a system that should have protected them. We now have a chance to show them a different face of government - one that takes responsibility for their care and support when they are most vulnerable. 

Mary Bousted, Association of Teachers & Lecturers

Kate Fallon, Association of Educational Psychotherapists

Russell Hobby, National Association of Head Teachers

Kevin Courtney, National Union of Teachers

UPDATE: Cllr Butt reassures Brent high-rise tenants on Fire Risk Assessments and compliance

Twitter post earlier today

 Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, has made the following statement in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Following the terrible scenes from the fire at Grenfell Tower, our thoughts are with all those affected. We have been in contact with our neighbours in Kensington and Chelsea to offer any help and assistance we can at this difficult time.

Many residents living in high-rise blocks across the country will naturally be concerned and I want to reassure tenants and leaseholders that, in Brent, all of our Fire Risk Assessments (FRA) are up-to-date in all high rise properties and we are 100% compliant also.

Fire safety is the number one priority for anyone's home and we continually review our fire risk assessments, servicing and maintenance programmes in all accommodation blocks to ensure our residents are kept safe.

The council works closely with London Fire Brigade and meets regularly with them, both on an operational and fire safety level.

As a council, working with Brent Housing Partnership, we are doing all that we can to keep our residents safe from the devastating consequences of a major fire, but you can help too by following this advice:

• Make sure you have a working smoke alarm in your home
• Keep balconies free from clutter
• Please don't leave rubbish or bikes in communal areas or obstruct escape routes
• Make sure you know where your nearest fire exit is
• If you are a smoker please do not smoke in common areas of the block
• Always fully extinguish cigarettes smoked in your home and dispose of them carefully and safely

Given the large number of new high-rise private blocks in the Wembley Stadium  Quintain development it would be useful to know what fire precautions have been built into these developments as well as detail on the cladding used.

UPDATE

High rise tower blocks developed by Quintain in Wembley Park

In a response to concerned residents, Cllr Butt sent this fuller message today:

I am sure that you are shocked and horrified at the tragedy that has unfolded over the last two days in Kensington and the tragic loss of life in the fire that ravaged the Grenfell Tower.

Our thoughts, prayers and sympathies are with the families, friends and for all those who have lost their lives and those that have been injured in this incident. The police and fire brigade are working flat out to make sure  that they bring this incident to close soon so that the process of reflection can proceed, and once again they have demonstrated great professionalism in helping to keep us all safe, I cannot thank them enough for all their hard work and dedication.

Myself and Carolyn Downs ( Chief Exec) have made contact with the Leader and the chief exec of Kensington to offer our full support for any assistance that they may need. I have also been  in contact with the leaders of Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Harrow and we have all collectively agreed to offer our assistance at any time which has been communicated to Kensington.

I have also been in contact with representatives for the Mayor of London , and we are all united in offering our help and support across London from all our respective boroughs.

As you may be aware each council has emergency procedures and systems in place in case an incident occurs, and Kensington has instigated those systems and procedures at the moment. They have setup respite centres and are they are actively working with their neighbours in Westminster council, we have offered to help with any assistance that they may need and we will immediately respond to any request when made, Carolyn has been in touch and they are able to cope with what they need to deliver.

Their  Website currently has a message that reads “ The Council would like to thank all those who have made generous donations of accommodation, food, clothing and other items. We would ask you to please hold off for now as we have been inundated with useful items. When we need donations again we will update via our website and social media.

You can find more information about the respite centres and how you can signpost people and organisations who may want to offer help and support from this link: https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/newsroom/all-council-statements/fire-grenfell-tower

I have made a statement about fire safety in our buildings which you can read here: https://www.brent.gov.uk/council-news/press-releases/pr6596/

We have 37 high-rise blocks in Brent and all 37 are Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) compliant. All new blocks like the ones in Wembley etc are built using new construction methods and rigorously inspected through building control, as part of the planning process the issues around fire safety are absolutely discussed and are paramount.

Resident safety is our number one concern and in light of this incident, a number of actions have been implemented to allay any fears that residents living in those blocks may have.

In addition, all relevant media platforms have been updated for resident awareness and reassurance of our fire management and further notifications will be sent in due course. 

We have received many queries from councillors and from residents and these briefings are being sent out to assure everyone that we are absolutely serious about the concerns and will continue to make sure that we allay those fears, which are completely understandable.

It’s been great to see the communities coming together to help and support the people affected by the fire, and that community spirit is also being shown here in Brent, Mosques and churches have come together to provide the support to those who are affected, I have also been contacted by a developer who is willing to offer his development for people who may need it and I have also been contacted by a local community organisation that is willing to help prepare food for the opening of the fast and will provide other support around shelter and accommodation if required. If a request comes through anything else to help the effort in Kensington I can assure we will not hesitate to help, whether it is for accommodation, personnel or anything else.

We are also looking at setting up a collection point for items that can be delivered to the people who are affected, as I have been asked if we can do this once we have spoken to all concerned we will send out the details for any collection points , if there is anyone who wants to help and volunteer please pass on the details as follows :. If you would like to volunteer to help with the support effort please register your interest by emailing Grenfellvolunteers@rbkc.gov.uk including your name, contact number and availability. Please also let us know if you have any specialist skills.  They also had a phone number 020 7361 3008

A page has been setup where you can make a financial donation here : https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/grenfell

The council is working to make sure that everyone who needs the help and support from us , will receive it and we will continue to liaise with Kensington & Council and its residents in their time of need.

The Kilburn Times LINK reports that Brent Council has devised a 6 point action plan in reaction to the Grenfell House fire:

In a report shown to the Brent&Kilburn Times, housing chiefs have set up a six-point action plan which includes checks that claddings applied to the outside of buildings are fire rated.

They are also liaising with the London Fire Brigade (LFB) to seek clarity and guidance around the “self evacuation” vs “stay put” briefing as many block residents are told to stay in their properties in the event of a fire.

There are 37 high rise blocks in Brent which the council said are all “Fire Risk Assessment compliant”.

Over the next 72 hours, visits will take place to all high-rise properties to enforce the removal of residents’ belongings from communal parts of the buildings where necessary.

A customer response team is to report any fire safety concerns raised by residents that “have or have not been attended to and /or completed”.

A former fire project manager who oversaw upgrade works in 2015 is to confirm all cladded properties are fire-rated and signed off by the council.

They are also liaising with Wates, the council’s preferred building contractor, to “discuss any outstanding actions to ensure fire safety defects are remedied without delay”.

On Thursday I emailed the Brent Council Press Desk with the following request.

I am receiving queries about the safety of the new towers in the Quintain development in Wembley which are of course private.

Could you comment (presumably via Planning) on fire precautions demanded of the developers (2 x fire escapes, sprinklers in flats and common areas, alarm systems, material used for cladding).

I have recieved no response (time now 21.55 Friday)