Minutes:
The Leader, on behalf of the County Council, expressed condolences to those affected by recent terrorist attacks in London and Manchester and the tragic incident at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. While investigations into the fire were underway there were concerns about high rise residential housing across the country, similar to that at Grenfell Tower.
Much of the public concern related to a type of cladding used in the refurbishment of the tower. As a result, all local authorities and other registered providers of social housing had been asked by DCLG to review their property portfolios to identify whether any panels used in new build or refurbishments were similar to that used in Grenfell Tower.
Whilst the Council was no longer a provider of social housing, it had liaised with social landlords across County Durham who had confirmed there was no high rise type residential accommodation although many were reviewing their wider fire safety arrangements.
The Council was also working with DCLG to review its property portfolio and this review had commenced, and they would continue to work closely with partners during this process to ensure that it conducted a thorough and comprehensive review and ensure fire risks were being managed and controlled effectively whilst learning any lessons to take forward in the future.
As a precautionary measure, all County Council buildings that used cladding were being checked, although the Council specified fire retardant cladding in all new build and refurbishment work.
The Leader went on to advise of the robust system of fire risk assessments in place, about the evacuation plans, and of the robust plans in place should the county face a major incident along the lines of recent tragic events.
The Leader assured Members that the Council would closely monitor the recommendations which came out of the investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire and, if any were relevant to the County Council, these would be fully implemented.
The Leader referred to the General Election and congratulated the County’s six Members of Parliament on their election, five of whom were re-elected alongside Laura Pidcock, a new representative from North West Durham. The Council’s Cabinet would be meeting with the County’s MP’s in the next few weeks to discuss key issues. The Leader also commiserated with those candidates who were unsuccessful.
The Leader thanked election staff for their work on a full set of elections, council, parish and general elections, over the past few months. Running elections across an area of half a million people comprising six parliamentary constituencies, sixty plus wards and many parishes was no easy task.
The Leader informed the Council that, notwithstanding the Queen’s Speech which was due later in the day, there remained a degree of national uncertainty which made it difficult for the Council to set out its plans. Nevertheless three key priorities for the Council moving forward would be working with all local communities and building community resilience across County Durham, taking forward the council’s transformation programme towards 2020 and beyond and getting the best out of Brexit.
The Leader concluded by informing the Council that there was a lot going on across County Durham over forthcoming weeks and months and he encouraged all Members to join in. Events included Kynren, Brass, the Miners Gala as well as many other visitor attractions.