Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from David O’Keefe, Jo Rose, Gillian Farrugia, and Michal Jankowski.

Also apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Anna Burrage and Lorna Russell and Tom Simon who needed to leave the meeting early.  

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

Webcasting

The Chair announced that the meeting was being broadcast live to the internet and would be capable of repeated viewing and copies of the recording could be made available to those that requested them. Those participating in the meeting were deemed to be consenting to being filmed.

To note any declaration of interest.

There were none.

There were none.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd October 2024.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd October 2024.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd October 2024 be approved as a correct record

To appoint a Resident Panel Member to Co-Chair the proceedings.

The meeting sought nominations for the position of Resident Co-Chair. Gul Begum was the only nomination and the meeting agreed that she be the Resident Panel Co-Chair for a further 12 months.

RESOLVED –

THAT Gul Begum be appointed Resident Co-Chair for a further 12 months.

Report of the Director of Property Management

The report reviews the range of issues the Housing & Fire Safety Advisory Panel has considered over the last 12 months. The Panel also reviews its terms of reference each year and this report proposes that the review takes place at the Panel’s Summer 2025 meeting, the date of which is to be confirmed as part of the next Municipal Year. This is so that any changes in Government policy following the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report can be considered

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management

Melissa Dillon, Resident Safety Engagement & Governance Lead, took the meeting through the report.

Officers agreed to provide members with options regarding revising the name of the panel so that it better reflected the regulatory framework surrounding building and fire safety.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (MD)

RESOLVED –

1.      THAT the activity over the preceding 12 months against the objectives in the Terms of Reference attached as the appendix to the report be noted.

2.      THAT the main review of the Terms of Reference be deferred as proposed in paragraph 1.2 of the report.

3.      THAT the minor amendment of the Terms of Reference to allow for the appointment of a deputy resident co-chair as set out in paragraph 1.2 of the report be approved

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (MD)

To appoint a Deputy Co-Chair for the year

The meeting sought nominations for the new position of Deputy Resident Co-Chair. Silvia Kirk was the only nomination and the meeting agreed that she be the Deputy Resident Co-Chair for the next 12 months.

RESOLVED –

THAT Silvia Kirk be appointed Deputy Resident Co-Chair for the next 12 months.

Report of the Director of Property Management

This report provides an update on the Council's response to the recommendations of the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report.

This report also notes the publication of the Government’s plans for accelerating the remediation of dangerous cladding and new Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing regulations.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management

Gavin Haynes, Director of Property Management, took the meeting through the report and he along with Melissa Dillon, Resident Safety Engagement & Governance Lead, Steve Boulton, Fire Safety Advisor Manager, and Maria Jacobs, Head of Neighbourhoods, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       It was expected that the Government would announce that it was going to introduce new rights for residents to have a person centred risk assessment, along with new duties for the Council to carry them out. These regulations would be impacted by the type of building the person was living in along with who would be entitled to the service.

·       It was expected that clarity would be provided to Local Authority landlords regarding the reasonable steps and the reasonable endeavours they would be required to undertake to deliver the requirements. It was hoped that extra burdens funding would be provided to support all of this work. The Council was already undertaking some preparatory work in this area.

·       The Council would need information from its tenants and residents regarding their vulnerabilities and the support they would need in relation to their Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs), which would then be reviewed and assessed by the Fire Safety Advisory Team. Following this assessment then a response would be provided that could refer residents to adult social care for a support package or adaptations to the premises that may be required.

·       It was expected that the Government would provide a response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase 2 report over the next 6 month period, along with accelerating the remediation of unsafe cladding on high-rise/high-risk buildings.

·       The Council had undertaken a PEEPs pilot with residents of six high-rise buildings which covered 260 homes. This involved Council staff knocking on-doors to ascertain whether they felt they needed such a plan, which resulted in only 18 people identifying that they felt needed a PEEP. Following on from this information officers from the Fire Safety Advisory Team were working with colleagues in neighbourhood services, along with other colleagues in the repairs and stock conditions teams to identify tenants and residents they felt should require PEEPs to ensure full coverage. 368 residents had now identified as needing help to evacuate their home in an emergency

·       The Fire Safety Advisory Team was working to ensure it could deliver the PEEPs programme, and as part of this it was getting support from colleagues in Neighbourhood Services. This process was being supported through Tenancy Visits and the development of a Tenancy Visit App that would allow appropriate staff to load relevant information on the housing data management system, and make any necessary referrals for a PEEP or other care and support action.

·       Currently the visiting programme was targeting people over 70, people who hadn’t reported a repair in the last 12 months, and people that had reported damp and mould 12 moths previously but hadn’t had a follow up visit, which officers anticipated to be approximately  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Director of Housing

This report provides an overview of the options available to the Council for gaining access to Leasehold properties in order to carry fire and other safety compliance inspections and works.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Housing

Sinéad Burke, Head of Property Asset Management, took the meeting through the report and she along with Maria Jacobs, Head of Neighbourhoods, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       Legal warning letters tended to be very effective in ensuring access to a home but when necessary the Council would use a First Tier Tribunal Application, along with an injunction. Forfeiture of the Lease was viewed as a very draconian measure, and should only be relied upon for the most serious breaches or in the event other remedies having failed, as the courts would require that the Council was procedurally correct in any application it made. The Council did not currently capture details on legal and non-legal remedy outcomes, and it was reviewing so that it was able to provide transparent information on this going forward.

·       Entering a property without permission from the resident or in the absence of any court order poses a significant risk to the Council, and it would need to consider this on a case by case basis by balancing the impact of waiting for an appropriate order against the risk posed to others in the block. This would also include working with the Council’s legal team to assess the risk of any legal, financial or reputational action that may flow from this.    

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted

Report of the Director of Property Management

This report provides the Panel with information about the Building Safety Case preparation and submission programme for the Council’s higher-risk residential buildings.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management.

Melissa Dillon, Resident Safety Engagement & Governance Lead, took the meeting through the report and she along with Andrea Mills, Resident Engagement Strategy Lead, who took the meeting through the Resident Engagement Strategy, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       The Building Safety Regulator had advised that it had resourcing difficulties and that there were delays in processing Gateway Applications and Building Safety Case assessments, so there would be a delay in providing feedback on the information that had been submitted by Camden to date. The Building Safety Regulator had though advised the authority that they welcomed Camden’s high quality Resident Engagement Strategy.

·       There was no high-rise building using a large panel system in Camden, also relating to Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) a review had been undertaken that had identified some high-rise buildings as being low risk on having this in place, so further work was being undertaken by an engineer to advise the authority on this so it had an accurate picture of the position.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted

Director of Property Management

This report provides an update on compliance across fire, legionella, asbestos, gas, electrics and lifts (FLAGEL) across the housing portfolio for Q2 2024/25. It also provides an update on progress to complete fire safety actions and Q2 performance on safety-related Tenant Satisfaction Measures.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management

Sinéad Burke, Head of Property Asset Management, took the meeting through the report and she along with Melissa Dillon and Maria Jacobs, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       The Council was making steady progress in working through all its outstanding medium and low risk Fire Risk Actions. This was being delivered at the expected rate with existing level of staff and contractors undertaking the work. Other issues effecting the delivery of these actions related to capital actions (approximately half the outstanding actions related to this), that would need to go through the new Gateway building regulation process (currently running at 30 weeks which was beyond the expected deadlines, due to staffing and resources issues). This meant that building control approval would now be required before any such works could be undertaken. Also a number of the Fire Risk Actions were also partially complete but had not been closed until all the works had been undertaken. Grilles on tenants doors, which would require the removal of the grille and a new door were identified as 2 actions and the job for the works would cover both actions. The lead in time on obtaining doors could be slow as the Council was competing with other housing providers for the same doors.

·       Officers would give consideration to the best way of ensuring that tenants and residents were kept informed of any delays regarding door installation or repairs, along with providing appropriate reassurance regarding any safety issues arising from Fire Risk Actions.  

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (SB)

·       Officers would provide the no access number for smoke detector installation for Q1 and ensure that in future the report included each quarter’s data so that they could be compared.  

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (SB)

·       There were issues regarding gaining access to homes at the end of the programme, and the Council was working with those tenants to see what options would work for them. Officers worked with colleagues in neighbourhoods to work through issues with these tenants. The Council also needed to take forward how it dealt with persistent cases to work through issues they had earlier and in different ways to allow access.

·       The Water Tanks 6 monthly servicing regime was identified as being in the red category as the programme overall had slipped. Officers would provide information regarding the worst overdue periods for Water Tanks servicing.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (SB)

·       The process surrounding secured tenants no access was broadly similar to the process for leaseholders (the use of the First Tier Tribunal Application would not apply in this instance, and it would be difficult to get the tenant to surrender their tenancy). When necessary the Council could apply to get an injunction, this though did not grant the Council powers of access or the ability to force entry but would compel the tenant to allow the Council to do the work. If the tenant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Report of the Director of Property Management

This report provides an update on the intended work programme for the Panel and an update on actions requested at previous meetings.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management.

The meeting asked that the following reports be added to the work programme:

·       Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report – Government response (to be added to the April meeting if published)

·       PEEPs programme (to the yet to be programmed list)

New items in bold

23rd April 2025

·       LFB Annual Report

·       Compliance performance report (Standing item)     

·       Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report – Government response (if published)

·       Work Programme

Summer 2025

Resident/TRA training

Terms of Reference Review

Compliance performance report (Standing item)

Autumn 2025

Annual Fire & Building Safety Charter report 2024/25

Compliance performance report (Standing item)

Yet to be Programmed

·       Compartmentation work in commercial premises

·       PEEPs programme

RESOLVED –

THAT the work programme as revised above, and action tracker update be endorsed and noted.

There were none.