Agenda item

The report provided the Scrutiny Board with an update on current Building Safety legislation and activities undertaken for the Council’s Housing Stock and other Council owned buildings.

The Acting Executive Director of Asset Management and Development, SCH introduced the report to the Scrutiny Board.  Key highlights brought to the attention of Members included:

• The Fire Safety Act 2021 was now in place.

• Under the Act, fire and rescue services will be empowered to take enforcement actions and hold building owners to account if they are not compliant.

• SCH undertook fire risk assessments on the communal parts of both High-Rise Residential Buildings (HRRB’s) and low-rise residential buildings every 3 years. Annual risk assessments are carried out by a specialist in respect of the 37 HRRB’s located in Solihull, whilst SCH undertook risk assessments for the low-rise buildings located in the borough every 3 years.

• The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced new duties under the Fire Safety Order for building owners or managers (responsible persons). The regulations are scheduled to come into force on 23^rd January 2023, implementing a number of recommendations arising from phase one of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

•  The Regulations did not implement the requirements for PEEPS (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans). The PEEP guidance is seen to be more relevant for those building managers who did not have a ‘stay put’ policy in place.  Solihull operated a ‘stay put’ policy for residents in the 37 HRRB’s within the Council housing stock unless the fire itself was in the resident’s residential unit.

• The Building Safety Act (BSA) became effective on 28^th April 2022, applicable to those HRRB’s over 18 meters in height and introduced a Building Safety Regulation via Health and Safety Regulations.

• The Building Safety Bill requires an Accountable Person to be nominated for the ‘in occupation’ phase of the lifecycle of in scope buildings such as the 37 HRRB’s in the borough and this is the Director of Economy and Infrastructure.  The required tasks are delegated within  SCH to a newly  appointed Head of Building Safety, whilst the Council has a Building Safety Manager in post.

• SCH had a Building Safety Implementation Plan in place, which captured all activities required by the legislation, which addressed amongst other matters:

-  A data strategy.

-  Building safety case for all 37 HRRB’s (scheduled for review from April 2024).

-  Governance and assurance arrangements.

-  Projects planned to further improve the safety of HRRB’s.

A sprinkler installation project currently in progress across the 37 HRRBs has led to better resident engagement, as well as allowing SCH to address some legacy issues in properties with faults. An access rate to properties of approximately 97.5% had been achieved, although it remained the intention to reach 100% of units. The programme had also experienced some significant challenges due to a change in the British Standards requirements where the 2021 standard now require the installation of double size water tanks and the provision of back up generators.

• Work is due to commence soon to replace existing spandrel panels in 16 HRRBs as part of the building safety programme and a contractor is due to mobilise soon following a tender exercise.

There is a programme of structural surveys that has commenced and will identify any further building safety work required in the housing stock. SCH aim to synchronise this with existing plans to minimise disruption, maximise access and achieve better value for money.

• Engagement with the Fire Service was good as was the engagement with residents via the SCH Resident Engagement Strategy, which had been designed in conjunction with residents.

Having received the introduction to the report, Members of the Scrutiny Board raised several related questions, which in summary received the following replies and clarification from Officers present:

Ø  The Scrutiny Board queried the scenario whereby a resident was placed in temporary accommodation in a non-SCH property, what were the Council’s responsibilities towards the resident concerned and was it duty bound to ensure the property complied with the new regulations and legislation.  Members were advised that it depended on the type of property concerned, but that an assurance check will have been undertaken before placing the resident in the property.

Ø  Referencing the SCH Building Safety Implementation Plan, specifically regarding the key headline achievement of ‘easily accessible and transparent safety information being available to all stakeholders’, the Scrutiny Board questioned how this would be achieved.  The Acting Executive Director for Asset Management and Development advised that a secure information box would be installed in all 37 HRRB’s and secondly, SCH would write directly to tenants if specific housing or building issues needed to be raised with them.  SCH also used social media platforms, tenant newsletters and pop up events as part of their tenant engagement initiatives.

Ø  The Scrutiny Board noted that the sprinkler installation programme had provided SCH with the opportunity to engage closely with their tenants generally and questioned whether SCH had any plans to continue such tenant interactions on a wider basis.  The Acting Executive Director for Asset Management and Development clarified that SCH had a strong tenant engagement team in place and that the sprinkler installation project had also provided the opportunity to roll out the Engagement Strategy which had led to an award nomination. Tenant engagement initiatives would continue to be delivered beyond the end of the sprinkler implementation programme. 

Ø  The Scrutiny Board questioned what consequences were there in the case of non-compliance for giving building / property access to facilitate a building safety inspection (for example, properties being used for cannabis farming) and whether there was liaison with the Police if such scenarios occurred.  Members were informed that the SCH asset management team worked in partnership with SCH colleagues in Neighbourhood Services, Housing Officers and residents. No example of cannabis farming had been found in Solihull, but any such case would trigger an automatic referral to the Police. Some safeguarding referrals to the Police had taken place following fire safety work taking place in properties and resident engagement.

Ø  The Scrutiny Board raised SCH governance processes, stating that it would be desirable to see an annual SCH report addressing fire and building safety matters across the SCH estate, which would be submitted to Cabinet to strengthen accountability for responsible office holders and leadership teams. Members were advised that SCH are included in the Council’s  newly formed Building Assurance Board chaired by the Accountable Person and that SCH in addition would be reporting on building safety matters on a quarterly basis to the appropriate Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Housing.

Ø  Confirmation was sought as to whether a whistle blowing hot line / arrangements for anonymous reporting of building safety concerns was already in place.  The Scrutiny Board was advised that SCH was developing a system of reporting for tenants concerned with any building safety issues, which would be captured by SCH systems and addressed. The Councils updated Whistle Blowing Policy was reported to the Audit Committee on 9^th January 2023 and scheduled to go to the Governance Committee on 18^th January 2023, which would be shared with SCH. The approved Whistle Blowing Policy would also be shared and accessible via the Council website for public access.

Having considered the report, the Resources and Delivering Value Scrutiny Board:

RESOLVED:

(i)  To note the implications arising from the Fire Safety Act, Building Safety Act and associated legislation.