To receive questions from councillors.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Monday 19 June.

Accepted questions will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting.

Question from Councillor E J Swinglehurst

Cladding on public buildings

The fire at Grenfell Tower highlighted potential risks inherent in using certain exterior cladding on high rise buildings.  I understand this, and the adequacy of building control regulations, may be the subject of urgent review.  If such cladding has been used in the refurbishment of housing or public buildings in Herefordshire what assessment has been made of the risks to residents, and what steps have been taken to reassure them?

Answer from Councillor Harry Bramer, cabinet member contracts and assets

Herefordshire does not have any high rise buildings. However, in light of the potential risks associated with certain types of exterior cladding, officers are liaising with the housing providers to establish what steps they are taking to identify and assess any risk relating to the housing stock they own.

A similar assessment of risk is being carried out in relation to council buildings including schools; these are low rise buildings with more than one fire exit. Regular fire drills and inspections are carried out at all council premises, and improvements in practice identified as necessary; the importance of this basic good practice cannot be overstated.

Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, but I am assured that we are taking all steps necessary to identify risks and, if appropriate, take mitigating action.

The building control service remains available to provide advice to property owners.

The advice from Government is fast moving, we have received further guidance this morning. There is a wide range of propriety cladding systems that have been used over the years and these are constructed from a wide range of materials.  Government advice is that some (ACM) Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems may not provide sufficient fire resistance.  The guidance issued this morning requires council’s to notify the Fire and Rescue Service of the existence of any Aluminium Composite Material cladding in council buildings. The council has complied with this requirement.

Requests from Government

We have responded to all information requests from Government.  We have confirmed that we do own any properties in Herefordshire (residential or other, clad or other) over 18m

Properties owned by the Council

We do not have any properties that have significant cladding. We have identified a small number of properties that have decorative cladding panels, e.g. in modular window systems. These tend to be in the form of a glazed opening in the top half of the unit and the lower half is a cladding panel. . We have assessed these as low risk installations on the basis that they are not cladding the whole wall, and the buildings are not occupied by people sleeping. We are liaising with the Fire and Rescue Service in respect of these buildings.

Social Housing

The council does not own any social housing. We are having an ongoing dialogue with the major social land lords operating in Hereford, including HHL. They have all confirmed that they do not have any high risk properties, i.e. residential units above 18m. They are confirming that they have some properties that have been clad, but using a different technique (EWI) External Wall insulation. This involves a layer of insulating material being fixed to the external walls with no gap. This is then covered with a coat of render.

Blueschool House

External Wall Insulation (EWI) Cladding has been used on part of the structure, this has been installed and rendered over. In addition the plan is to provide some external cladding using a form of cladding which complies with current building regulations, we are awaiting confirmation that this material is fire resistant.  We are also exploring options of changing to a different type of cladding if this is deemed necessary.

Properties not belonging to the Council.

We are aware of one block of flats outside the ownership of the council, which is below 18m in the city of Hereford that has a form of ACM cladding. Investigations are continuing to identify any risks associated with this property. The council is liaising with the Fire and Rescue Service regarding this building.

We have reminded care home providers and schools of the need to ensure that their fire risk assessments are up-to-date and of the need to have regular evacuation drills.