The report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) is enclosed.

Reports submitted in June 2017, September 2017 and December 2017 (Minutes Exe/17/078, Exe/17/113 and Exe/17/153) had explained the implications for Manchester’s residents of the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower in London, and the action being taken to ensure that the residents of tower blocks in Manchester are safe and feel safe.

A comprehensive update report submitted by the Strategic Director (Growth & Development) now sought to provide updates on a range of related topics including:

·         the latest information on the removal of unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding from buildings;

·         the collection of data on all External Wall Systems;

·         information on other fire safety issues in High Rise Residential Buildings;

·         safety and improvement work being undertaken on council-owned High Rise Residential Buildings;

·         the work of the Council’s interdepartmental Fire Safety Group;

·         the Council’s work with residents and, in particular, the community group known as “The Cladiators”;

·         the Council’s role as an early adopter of the recommendations in the Dame Judith Hackitt Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety;

·         an introduction to the Building Safety Bill and Fire Safety Bill and the implications for Manchester.

On the removal of the dangerous ACM cladding, none of the high rise residential buildings owned by the Council had ACM cladding on them, all the buildings managed by Register Providers had had the cladding removed where necessary, likewise two private-sector buildings. There was still ten private sector builds where ACM cladding needed to be removed:

Of the six where work had yet to start, five of those were reported as developing plans. There was no progress to report from the owners of the Travelodge building on Great Dulcie Street.

All other private high rise building owners had also been asked to identify all of the external wall systems on each building they owned. Owners were asked to identify the type and amount (percentage) of insulation and cladding on each elevation and the material on any balconies on the building. The response had been good and the information had been provided for almost all buildings, and the outstanding ones were anticipated.

The report explained that draft legislation was proposing the setting up of a new, national Building Safety Regulator that was to be responsible for implementing a more stringent regulatory regime for tall buildings as well as overseeing the safety and performance of all buildings. That Regulatory was to establish a system of Mandatory Occurrence Reporting for any structural safety or fire safety related event which was perceived to represent a significant risk to life in multi-occupied residential buildings within the scope of the new regime. As an early adopter of the recommendation of the Hackitt Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety it was proposed and agreed that the Council should have a Mandatory Occurrence Reporting system in place as soon as possible, and authority was delegate to the Strategic Director to create and set up that process.

The report also explained that the proposed legislation would result in the designation of the Accountable Person for a building. The Accountable Person was to be legally responsible for ensuring that they understand fire and structural risks in their buildings and to take appropriate steps and actions to mitigate and manage these fire and structural risks on an ongoing basis so the building can be safely occupied. The Accountable Person would be required to appoint a competent Building Safety Manager, approved under a system agreed by the Building Safety Regulator, to support them in carrying out the day to day functions of ensuring that the building is safely managed. However, ultimate accountability will reside with the Accountable Person for assessing and managing fire and structural safety risks. The Accountable Person could be an individual, a partnership or a corporate body and it was It is proposed and agreed that for Council-owned High Rise Residential Buildings the Accountable Person be the Council of the City of Manchester.

A Deansgate ward councillor, Councillor Johns, addressed the meeting. He welcomed the report and stressed that the problems faced by residents of tall buildings in the city centre were not confined to ACM clad buildings, but that other cladding materials were now also a concern and that surveys and inspections of buildings had brought other concerns to light. He hoped that financial help would be provided by the government and the building owners so that the remedial costs would not all have to be borne by the leaseholders alone. He also commended the work of the “Gladiators” group, a residents of group that had come together to campaign for support for leaseholders and action by building owners.

It was noted that this report had also been considered at a recent meeting of the Neighbourhoods and Environment Scrutiny Committee, and that the Committee had endorsed its recommendations (Minute NESC/20/37).

Decisions

1.         To note this report

2.         To delegate authority to the Strategic Director (Growth & Development), in consultation with the Executive Member for Housing and Regeneration, to develop a process for Mandatory Occurrence Reporting.

3.         That the Accountable Person for buildings in scope be the Council of the City of Manchester.