Agenda, decisions and minutes

At the Annual Meeting, Council resolved that the Labour group should nominate the Chair of the Committee. The Committee is requested to formally appoint the duly nominated Chair

That Councillor Ron Hampson be confirmed as the Chairman of the Committee

The Democratic Services Manger advised that it had been confirmed at the Annual Meeting of the County Council that the Chair of the Committee should come from the Labour Group.  As Councillor Ron Hampson had been appointed to this role by the Group, the Committee was asked to endorse the decision.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Ron Hampson be confirmed as the Chairman of the Committee

To appoint a Vice-Chair for the Committee.

That Councillor Ian Dunbar be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Councillor Haydn Bateman nominated Councillor Ian Dunbar as Vice-Chair of the Committee.  This was seconded by Councillor Paul Shotton.

On being put to the vote Councillor Ian Dunbar  was appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.  Councillor Ian Dunbar took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

Following a suggestion by Councillor Dennis Hutchinson, it was agreed that the Democratic Services Manager would send a letter on behalf of the Committee to express best wishes to the Chair for a quick and speedy recovery. 

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Ian Dunbar be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Purpose: To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2017.

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2017 were submitted.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

As the Cabinet Member had been unable to attend the meeting, the Chief Officer (Community & Enterprise) made a statement on his behalf She explained that further to the sad and very shocking news from London regarding the fire at Grenfell Tower the council’s Housing Service is writing to its  tenants to explain the protective measures we have in place to ensure the safety of our tenants in the event of a fire.

In Flintshire we have three high rise properties. These are Castle Heights, Bolingbroke Heights and Richard Heights in Flint. Each of these is subject to a regulatory fire risk assessment. They have all  been recently refurbished with a number of protective measures included in that refurbishment. These measures include:

·         The installation of sprinkler systems. Sprinklers are located throughout tenants’ properties and communal areas. Meetings for tenants were held  with the Fire and Rescue Service to explain the reasons behind the installation of the sprinklers and key fire safety advice.

·         The installation of protective fire doors to all tenants’ properties.

·         The refurbishment of the three Heights also included the installation of external wall installation. In deciding the type of insulation for our properties, our background research included visits to the Fire and Rescue Services training centre in the Midlands to see demonstrations to  help us determine the appropriate external wall insulation to fit in our properties.

·         Throughout all our high rise properties we have smoke detectors in tenants’ hallways as well as heat detectors in kitchens; and the detectors are monitored.

·         In communal areas (stairwells, scooter rooms, laundry and community centres), we have smoke detectors which are directly monitored by the Fire and Rescue Service. Smoke detectors are also in place in our maintenance areas (boiler and generator plant rooms, as well as bin stores).

In addition to the physical protective measures we ensure that we have a rigorous set of inspection regimes covering all aspects of the property. These measures include:

·         Fire risk assessments (Castle Heights was conducted February 2017; Bolingbroke Heights December 2016, and Richard Heights February 2017);

·         Weekly alarm testing;

·         Quarterly inspections of smoke detectors; testing of emergency lighting on a monthly basis;

·         6 monthly independent checks of all fire extinguishers;

·         Production of a weekly fire log which identifies tenants movements;

·         Development of personal emergency evacuation plans identifying individual tenant’s abilities to evacuate in the event of an emergency. 

Later on Wednesday, 14 June, staff would be visiting all our tenants within the high rise properties to provide information on the measures we have in place and to reassure them as to the commitment we have as a council to their personal safety.

There were no members of the public or the press in attendance.