GRENFELL 3 YEARS ON

By Newham Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz

"Still no justice for the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in North Kensington, which could have been avoided if residents where treated with the respect and dignity they deserved.

We read the news reports over the weekend that many of the residents that survived this horror have experienced racism, ‘cultural bullying’, indifference and arrogance by a charity tasked with supporting them: including discriminatory decision making and practices such as negative stereotyping by the Westway charity. These former Grenfell Tower residents still haven’t been housed in suitable permanent homes either.

The Labour Party has estimated that some 56,000 people are still living in homes wrapped in the same flammable cladding as the Grenfell Tower.

Three years on from the gross injustice which led to 72 people dying on the 14th June in Grenfell, tonight thousands and thousands of people and families will still be going to bed in unsafe homes.

Including thousands of leaseholders living in properties that remain potentially unsafe, they find themselves as ‘mortgage prisoners’ unable to sell their homes or re-mortgage; and face the prospect of facing huge costs as well existing on-going costs such as ‪24/7‬ ‘waking watches’.

Leaseholders who are unable to re-mortgage face being put in on very high variable interest contracts; and all blocks with cladding - regardless of height - face intrusive and destructive testing.

A survey by the UK Cladding Action Group (UKCAG), published last week, shows that 9 out of 10 of 550 leaseholders and tenants surveyed have experienced sleeping problems and other mental health issues including suicidal feelings and self-harm as they contend with the prospect of unsellable apartments and crippling bills.

UKCAG say that there some 262 private and social residential blocks still wrapped in similar aluminium composite cladding systems, found to be the main cause of the fire that spread at Grenfell Tower, that killed 72 people. They’ve also estimated that 1,700 buildings across the country have some form of other dangerous cladding that needs replacing and others have other fire safety defects. The journal, Inside Housing estimates that some 600,000 flats nationally are unsellable as a consequence.

This includes properties owned by Housing Associations and private developers in Newham; and we’ve been pressing and demanding that they do more; with cabinet lead Cllr John Gray and deputy Cllr Shaban Mohammed, leading on this urgent focus locally.

The Government’s £1 billion fund is grossly inadequate and does not include on-going costs such as waking watches. The fund was only announced last month to help pay for the replacement of dangerous non-ACM cladding, adding to £600m already set aside for the removal of ACM cladding on social housing blocks.

Their slow and inadequate progress of this is unjustified, and their guidance is causing anxiety, delay, and confusion as well as risking lives.

Three years on from Grenfell, the government must meet full costs of making these homes safe and cover the ongoing costs caused by their failure to regulate and bring in effective building controls.

Building contractors who failed to build homes, to even the inadequate standards of the time, must also be held accountable and pay up.

Cllrs John Gray and Shaban Mohammed are organising a special zoom conference with Housing Associations who operate in Newham, to establish their latest progress and demand that they speed up on behalf of residents; as well as demanding government and builders to pay up.

https://www.theguardian.com/…/the-guardian-view-on-the-gren…

Grenfell Fire: Newham Scrutiny: Fire Safety in Tower Blocks Scrutiny

A response to the Mayor of Newham following a briefing sent to all Councillors and Newham MPs.

"Dear Robin

Thank you for your weekly briefing. I must admit that I am surprised and concerned that you are involving yourself in a scrutiny matter into your own Executive. I would have thought that if Cllr McAlmont wished to contact Councillors about Scrutiny he would have done so himself directly.

However, there are a number of inaccuracies in the statement in the Weekly Briefing (see below) to which I must respond.

To be clear. No Councillor members of the Fire Safety Scrutiny Commission have said at any meeting that they supported it being held in secret. Officers have confirmed that there is nothing stopping the Commission from being held in public.

I had indeed said at the first meeting of the Commission it had been “positive and constructive” but I also said immediately afterwards that there had been nothing said whatsoever at that meeting that justified it being kept secret.

It is a complete abuse of the English language to suggest that a meeting which stops the public, Newham housing residents or media from attending is not a “secret meeting”. Of course it is - and it is frankly a little silly to suggest otherwise.  If there is any very confidential personal or procurement matter that needs to be held in camera then there is well established Council procedures and guidance on closing that part of the meeting for that matter only.

The Grenfell Tower Fire was a disaster and will change the face of social housing. We are not yet certain what caused the fire and that is one of the reasons for holding the scrutiny. Yet is already clear that residents in Grenfell Tower were not listened to and that there was excessive secrecy which is thought to have contributed to the disaster.

I urge Councillor McAlmont to change his mind and let the meeting be open to the public and also invite residents who live in the 3 blocks with ACM cladding to send representatives to sit on the scrutiny as well.  It is residents who should be key in protecting themselves and their families. I hope you and the Chief Executive will instruct Executive members and Council Officers to attend the scrutiny.

In the meanwhile I have been asked by residents to continue with the scrutiny process so I intend to raise written questions to Housing Officers and Cllr Paul, the Police and the Fire brigade. I have also asked an experienced technical officer to accompany me on site visits with local Councillors and inspect the Tower Blocks and report back in public.

I am still awaiting a reply about the fate of the Housing Residents scrutiny commission which has now not met for over a year".

Regards

John Gray

Cllr
(picture Ferrier Point)

 Statement regarding Fire Safety in Tower Blocks Scrutiny Commission

Since the tragic Grenfell Tower disaster in June, Newham Council has been working hard to ensure our tower blocks are as safe as possible.

Work is currently underway to remove the aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding from three tower blocks in the borough – Ferrier Point, Nicholls Point and Tanner Point. This is a substantial piece of work and the council has ensured that all council members and affected residents have been kept up to date with any developments relating to this.

To support this work, a Task and Finish Commission was set up under the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. This action was approved at Full Council in July 2017, https://mgov.newham.gov.uk/documents/s115385/Minutes%2010th%20July%202017.pdf

The Fire Safety in Tower Blocks Scrutiny Commission will look at this work, gather evidence from key figures including the London Fire Brigade and submit its findings with any recommendations by 31 December 2017.

The Task and Finish Commission have clear terms of reference to undertake scrutiny enquiries which lead to recommendations to improve service delivery or assist in policy development.

The following statement this week was issued to the Newham Recorder on behalf of Councillor Anthony McAlmont, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in response to Councillor John Gray’s resignation from the Fire Safety in Tower Blocks Scrutiny Commission.

Councillor McAlmont said: “I am disappointed that Councillor John Gray has resigned from the Fire Safety Scrutiny Committee. Both myself and Councillor Terence Paul, lead member for housing invited him to retract his resignation as he has previously described the meetings as ‘positive and constructive’.

“The Fire Safety in Tower Blocks Scrutiny Commission is not a secret meeting. It is a Task and Finish group which meets informally to enable information to be gathered and to enable those presenting evidence to be more open in what they say to the commission. It also enables specific items of work to be completed quickly. A report will be produced once the commission is complete and this will be brought to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting in January which is held in public and will be attended by Councillor Paul. Copies of the report will also be made available publicly online. This process was agreed at Full Council in July by all members in attendance which included Councillor Gray.

“As Chair, I take this role very seriously and I want to ensure all fire safety works are carried out to a high standard and completed as quickly as possible for the safety of our residents. The Task and Finish Group is satisfied that the council has been clear and transparent with its ongoing work to improve fire safety in the three council owned blocks with aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding.”

For further information please contact Councillor Anthony McAlmont, at Anthony.Mcalmont@newham.gov.uk

From: Robin Wales
Sent: 03 November 2017 17:12
To: Council - All Newham Council Members
Cc: 'Lyn Brown (brownl@parliament.uk)'; 'timmss@parliament.uk'
Subject: Weekly Briefing

Dear Colleagues,

Please find attached the latest edition of the weekly Members briefing.

If you have any comments or queries please contact me.

Regards,

Robin

Grenfell Tower: The anatomy of a disaster & the future of social housing in London - Newham Fabians 20 Sept 2017

This looks like a really good event. Well done to the new Newham Fabians Officers for organising this. Thankfully we now have a local Fabian society that  actually does stuff! Tom will be a great speaker. 

Latest Newham’s response to Grenfell Towers

This is the latest media release from Newham Council (see below).

 I am still waiting for copies of the fire risk assessments for high rise blocks in my ward (West Ham) from the Council.

 I have also asked who is checking the fire risk assessments for high rise blocks controlled by Housing Associations and privately owned/leasehold blocks in Newham.

 We also need to think about cladding on schools, commercial office blocks and also low rise accommodation.

 By coincidence, last month during the General Election campaign, I was part of a West Ham Labour Party Canvass team, who knocked on every door in Ferrier Point. It appeared to me at the time to be in good condition internally with nothing really obviously wrong. I did not of course have any detailed risk assessments or other technical information on the block.

 As someone who has direct experience of managing high rise blocks and is a member of IOSH (Institute of Safety & Health) , trained in checking risk assessments, I have also had conversations with the lead Council Executive advisor for Newham Housing, Cllr Terry Paul and other officers.

I understand that the London Fire Brigade are satisfied so far with the control measures put in place by the Council in the 3 blocks identified so far with cladding that has failed safety tests. I am satisfied with what I know so far, but once the immediate crisis is over, we need to find out what went wrong and who is accountable.

 Yesterday evening I was at a meeting of West Ham One Housing Group TRA, where we had a really constructive debate on Grenfell and its aftermath. Tenants are really worried about the safety of their homes.

 The one and only positive thing about this is the way that ordinary working class people across the country and beyond have rallied around the victims and their families.

 Check out this post here on Forest Gate North by local Councillor, Seyi Akiwowo, on Grenfell issues in her ward.

 (Newham media release 27/6/17)

"Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in West London, Newham Council is in the process of inspecting all tall buildings, prioritising those with cladding. There is no immediate risk to the safety of any of them that would lead to residents having to leave their homes.

 Last week, we sent a sample of the exterior cladding from Ferrier Point, Nicholls Point and Tanner Point for expert testing. Although the cladding failed the test over the weekend, the council has confirmed that the insulation material used in the cladding on your block was of higher quality to that used at Grenfell Tower as it is made of Rockwool which offers more fire protection.

 Because overall the samples of cladding failed the test, we have employed an external contractor who has been visiting all three blocks today to assess the removal of the cladding and how quickly this can be done.

This weekend, London Fire Brigade (LFB) along with Newham Council has carried out a full fire safety inspection of the three buildings and a sample of individual flats within the blocks. We have agreed a number of immediate actions which include:

· Extra security is in place in these three blocks 24 hours until further notice. This extra security will patrol the blocks every 20 minutes so they will be able to raise the alarm in the event of a fire
 · Clutter, including some personal possessions such as bicycles have been removed to safe storage.

All residents living in these blocks have been written to and visited wherever possible to outline the actions the council and LFB have taken. We have reassured the residents that these additional actions, along with safety measures that are already in place, including smoke alarms in every flat and high quality fire doors, means there is no immediate risk to safety and no need for people to leave their homes, unless otherwise notified.

 There are some additional matters we are addressing around the blocks, including vandalism, rough sleeping and issues such as smoking in stairwells and corridors. We have also reminded residents of the London Fire Brigade’s current safety advice following the Grenfell Tower fire.

Essential works will begin immediately to enhance fire safety with further upgrades taking place over the next few weeks, including dealing with the cladding.

We have thanked them for their patience and apologised for any inconvenience that future work may cause. We will keep them informed of all further developments.”

Grenfall Tower Fire - The shock and the horror but East Enders rally to help

Like everyone I was horrified at the news reports and pictures this morning at the fire and destruction of Grenfall Tower in Kensington.  I have been a housing officer in London for the past 25 years and have managed a number of similar high rise residential blocks, I was deeply shocked.

As a Unison trained Health & Safety representative (and member of IOSH)  I have been assured over the years, many, many times that such a thing could "never happen".

I am also a West Ham ward Councillor (London Borough of Newham) and this evening, I had by coincidence, my monthly surgery in the Tenants and Residents room in a 21 storey high rise and a concerned resident, who lived on the 14th floor, did come and ask me what is being done to reassure her and her family that they were safe. She asked if she needed some sort of ladder in her flat?

I have raised a member's enquiry asking for copies of all fire risk assessments for tower blocks in my ward. I have also offered to arrange joint inspections with residents, council officers and ward councillors of all our high rise blocks.

I also asked what has happened to our Newham Housing residents' scrutiny panel which has not met for a long time? Involving residents meaningfully in the management of their homes is crucial to ensuring their safety.

I did also speak tonight to Councillor Terry Paul, who is our Mayoral Advisor on Housing, who assured me that everything possible will be done to make sure our residents are safe and also keep them informed what is being done.

After the surgery, I went to the West Ham Labour Executive meeting in our HQ in Stratford. This evening (not now) our HQ was a base for local residents to drop off donations for Grenfall Tower Residents.

We had some people dropping off bags of donations.  Kay and her Mum, Mrs Brewer, (see above picture of them with Terry and Party member Karl Lewis) from Canning Town, who turned up with a car load of around 15 bags of donations. They explained that Canning Town had many tower blocks and local residents had been pleased to donate.

I dropped off the donations at Coffee7 in Forest Gate (see bottom picture). What a fantastic and generous community response!

Please check with the various charity organisers before dropping off any more donations at any locations.