Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Deputy Town Clerk providing an overview of the City of London Corporation’s response to the findings of Volume 7 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report, which focussed on the Local Authority management of building safety controls and responses to associated risks.

The Deputy Town Clerk took the opportunity to summarise outcomes that had been agreed at Corporate Services Committee, given that committee’s oversight of health and safety across the organisation.

There was a need for improvements in the technical capability of staff and changes to systems required to manage buildings stock to the standards defined by the Grenfell report.  There was agreement on the importance of gaining a more granular understanding of specific areas needing improvement and a request for an action plan and timeline for remediation.   There needed to be a strong focus on ensuring that systems go beyond demonstrating compliance and were robust and workable, especially in regard for person-centred fire risk assessments.   The Department for Community and Children’s Services, with which the majority of this works sits, had recently appointed a Head of Health and Safety to guide implementation of this work.

Overall, the City Corporation was in a stronger position and significant improvements have recently been made in responding to emergencies and major incidents.  

RESOLVED: That Members: -

·         Received the report and noted its content.