The Chief Executive welcomed Chris Hadfield from South Wales Fire and Rescue and David Todd-Jones, Development and Building Control Officer for the Authority. 

The Chief Executive gave condolences to families involved in incident and thanked colleagues in South Wales Fire and Rescue Service that were providing ongoing support to colleagues in London in dealing with the aftermath of incident. 

The Chief Executive gave a Fire Safety Briefing to Members with the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.  They explained to members the facts about the Grenfell Tower fire, where it started and how it had spread throughout the tower.  They advised that although the cladding was not the only contributing factor to the spread of the fire.   The Chief Executive informed Members that the Authority had received lots of information and advice from the National Fire Chiefs Council so we could learn and resource accordingly. 

The Chief Executive advised Members that we do not have any high rise accommodation in Bridgend County and where external insulating materials have been added to housing by V2C it was not rain screen cladding as used at Grenfell Tower, the insulation improvement work was undertaken in compliance with building regulations. 

The Head of Fire Safety was responsible for Fire Safety legislation and that their focus at this time was on high rise premises in South Wales, and they were looking at premises over 6 storeys, of which there were 109 in Wales, which had all been inspected within the last 7 years and that a number of them had gone under gone refurbishment with cladding.   The Fire and Rescue Services and relevant Local Authorities were working closely with the owners and landlords of these properties to re-evaluate their fire assessments and to reassure the public that high rise living was safe.      South Wales Fire and Rescue were focussing their efforts on life risk, and would be taking a steer from public inquest of the fire in Grenfell Tower.  They would be visiting all 109 premises over a period of time and have been reassured we can lean on other colleagues for assistance.

A Member stated that whilst buildings were being checked to ensure they complied with Fire Safety regulations she was concerned that unsafe electrical equipment was being used in the properties.  She asked if like the Commercial Sector has PAT Testing for equipment, could a similar approach be taken forward in private properties where there were Houses in multiple occupations.

The representative from South Wales Fire and Rescue stated that this would not possible to implement as these were peoples private homes, and they were unable to regulate against that.  But, they do offer free home safety fire checks so if members of the public were concerned they could contact them to carry out these checks but they could not enforce them.  The free checks involved local fire crews going out from local fire stations to give advice on electrical items, and smoke tests and alarms.  The Chief Executive added that housing association also test sprinklers and smoke alarms but they need permission from tenants to be able to carry these out. 

A Member asked for clarification on fire risk assessments in all schools, and if they have all had new ones recently and if there were sprinklers in older schools.  The Chief Executive stated that the Authority have existing fire safety assessments in all schools, which may identify improvements, such as new fire doors and that the assessments were a continual ongoing process and not just an annual check that was in place.   The Corporate Director Education added that all new school buildings all have auto escape routes, evacuation procedures, sprinkler systems and auto alarm monitoring systems. Fire risk assessments were in place and all safety checks carried out in every school and these were in place before the recent incident at Grenfell and were continually monitored and updated accordingly.  The Chief Executive added that this applied to all other buildings managed by the Authority including temporary accommodation

A Member thanked the officer and his colleagues from the Fire and Rescue service for the job they do and had great admiration for them as everyday they put their lives at risk for others.  She asked the Building Control Officer present about the Bottlebank building in Porthcawl, and asked how soon BCBC would have feedback from Redrow to establish the building was safe as it was fitted with external cladding. 

The Building Control Officer replied that the architects would be providing the information as soon as possible as they were currently reviewing viewing all past applications; he advised that he would forward all responses on to the relevant ward Members so they were able to share with their constituents.  He reassured the Member that he had already had a look at the plans for this particular building and that he could not foresee any major issue coming from it but would provide further detail as soon as it was received by the Authority.  He further advised Members that the new Rhiw development was not a concern and fully complies with building safety regulations.   

A Member paid gratitude to the London Fire Brigade and stated how very brave and courageous they were working in such dangerous conditions at great height to save the lives of others.   He stated that there was a lot of concern for high rise buildings but he was also concerned with the new builds within the borough, particularly new steel framed schools with cladding, he had received a number of questions and concerns from parents on the construction of Maesteg School. He asked if flammable material was used in the construction of this school and if so what the Council’s policy was if this type of material had been used.  

The Chief Executive replied that the Authority were looking at the Councils estate and were prioritising based on the nature of construction. He added that they were currently collating this information and would share with Members at the earliest opportunity.  He added that he understood the concerns around the cladding but there were a number of factors that contributed to the fire at Grenfell Tower.  He reassured members that the Authority would ensure that schools have correct measures in place according to their building and provided a commitment to find out what we were dealing with and not panic with knee jerk reactions.  If improvements were needed the Authority would act accordingly.

A Member sought assurance from the Chief Executive that BCBC were adequately resourced as needed, to support residents if such an incident were to happen within the Borough

The Chief Executive responded that BCBC would never be fully resourced as we would want to be, but we do need to be prepared to react to any kind of situation.  He advised that BCBC have mutual arrangements in place with neighbouring authorities so that if such a major incident were to occur they would support us as needed, as we would do if a major incident occurred in their area.  He added that the Authority were constantly looking at how prepared we are and aspire to test aspects of the plan should a major incident happen in BCBC.  Senior Managers have had training on emergency procedures and how to react in the cases of a major road traffic accident, or large evacuations were needed.  He also stated that multiple tiers of Government in Wales was also a factor to consider and some aspects of how an incident would be escalated, i.e to Welsh Government or Parliament would not be known until such time of the incident occurring. 

The Leader added that the Authority does have a civil emergency plan in place which he can share with members, the plan includes emergency accommodation planning which is  reviewed regularly, he welcomed members input to these plans if they so wished.

A Member asked if there was a generic register for all properties built in the Borough.  The Building Control Officer stated that everything has to go through building control and a record was kept on all properties.  Any changes to properties such as electrical installations would need to go through all the necessary checks and approval via building control  for search purposes when it comes to buying and selling the property on. 

A Member asked if we were confident the Authority had a complete and accurate picture with regard to all buildings that we own or operate and if not when would we have a complete and accurate picture for all schools in the Borough.

The Chief Executive stated that the Authority were close, and were waiting on a PO5 in Maesteg.  He added that due to the sensitivity and public interest around schools these were immediate concerns for the Authority and would be the first that they would share with Members.

A Member was concerned that there seemed to be a lack of knowledge in general in Social housing of what to do if a fire were to occur, he had visited residents that had received nothing in welcome packs and information sheets not displayed in the correct places.  He asked if we could work closely with our Social Landlords to ensure that this work was up to date and complete

The representative from South Wales Fire and Rescue stated that they work closely with Social Landlords and that fire safety legislation is shared with them.  He added that there was a mechanism in place for those that fail to comply.  He added that they have over 70,000 Social Housing properties south wales, he added that there is a fear factor in high rise living but stated that if common means of escape in the buildings are kept clear then they are safe buildings.

Members thanked all officers and colleagues from the South Wales Fire Service for their contributions to meeting and asked for a letter to be sent from Members to the London Fire Service paying gratitude for their commitment and bravery during the recent incident at Grenfell Tower.