Agenda item

The Chair welcomed Station Manager, Protection Transformation, Steven Barnes, to provide the Committee with a presentation which gave an overview of the Service’s actions pertaining to Building Regulation Consultations.

Following Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s (LFRS) 2021/22 His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspection, an ‘Area for Improvement’ was highlighted regarding completion of Building Regulation (BR) Consultations within the statutory timeline of 15 working days. The reported stated “The Service should make sure it allocates enough resources to respond effectively and in time to statutory building control consultations”. The Service had a responsibility to ensure that the fire safety measures put in place within the buildings were suitable and sufficient.

Initially, a review of internal process took place to identify how the Service could improve current working practices to increase performance and ensure delivery of statutory duties. The 3 areas of fire safety in Lancashire were Eastern/Pennine, Northern/Western, and Southern/Central. The review identified that BR consultations were received locally via Area Based offices from Local Authority Building Control Bodies and Approved Inspectors. This could be by way of email or ‘in person’ deliveries. Plans were then stored on local drives and manually input on an excel spreadsheet. With the volume of consultations varying from area to area, the impacts and ability to respond could be greatly impacted. In addition, the number of inspectors qualified to undertake BR consultations was limited in certain areas. This area-based view limited the ability for the department leadership team to manage BR holistically across the County.

The graph in the presentation showed the total number of Buildings Regulations received and the number completed within the set date.

To support the Service’s commitment to BR Consultation timelines, KPI 2.10 Building Regulation Consultations (BRC) was introduced.

Investment initially took place in training to ensure staff had the required competencies to undertake BR consultations. To further improve performance, a single mailbox was established and shared with all Local Authorities and Approved Inspectors, monitored by a dedicated BR team. This team then input the initial consultation, and an action was allocated to an appropriately qualified inspector. The CFRMIS (Community Fire Risk Management Information System) was the main repository for buildings within Lancashire and a Data Management System was also introduced where all Building Regulation information was stored. This provided the leadership team with a pan-Lancashire view of current activity and distributed the work across all qualified inspectors regardless of area, allowing for an even spread of workloads. The investment in digital systems ensured the Service tracked responses and managed performance consistently. 

The outcomes from the implementation of the new ways of working were that there was a single truth which provided live monitoring including assigned persons, and there was a simple reporting and monitoring process by Fire Safety Managers.

It was noted by Members that the current completion rate was 96.9%.

The priorities for the future direction of the Service were:

·       Resourcing to Risk – focus would be directed on trends and incidents identified, and reviews would be undertaken to ensure the ‘highest risk’ buildings were inspected.

·       Grenfell Enquiry Phase 2 Recommendations – there were 58 recommendations within the document. The documents that the Service used for Building Regulation were changing regarding the fire reaction and fire resistance of materials used and the move from British Standards (BS) to BS ENs (a standards adopted by the European Community). BS ENs were more robust and allowed for challenges to be made on materials used.

·       Building Safety Regulator – to comply with the Building Safety Act, the Service had a dedicated resource that would work on high rise premises, and work with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) engaging the Service at Gateway 2. Once a construction method was agreed at Gateway 1, it had to be seen through to completion with no changes to materials or dimensions.

·       Battery Energy Storage Systems – it was a government wide agenda for renewable energy. The Service was not a statutory consultee and so had no input. The NFCC were lobbying planners and developers for the Fire Service to be consulted.

·       Mid Rise Building Stock – previously, there had been no dedicated person, but as of August 2024, Mid Rise buildings were treated similarly to High Rise. Currently, 160 premises had been identified as Mid Rise and consultation letters had been sent to request information on the buildings. The buildings would then be rated for inspection to ensure fire safety measures were put in place.

County Councillor Hennessy asked, out of the 160 Mid Rise premises, how many replies had been received from the consultation letters. Station Manager Barnes confirmed that 110 replies had currently been received, however, if there was no response, the property could be elevated, resulting in a face-to-face visit. Under the Fire Safety Order, the Service could use Article 27 to gather information and enforce consultation within 28 days. All the information was stored in the CFRMIS system.

In response to a question from County Councillor Hennessy regarding staff in the department, Station Manager Barnes explained that there were 45 staff across 3 Fire Safety Departments across Lancashire, with a Fire Safety Manager, a number of Business Safety Advisors and Inspectors who were qualified to Levels 3 and 4.

The Chief Fire Officer highlighted that the government focus had shifted from High Rise Buildings (18M +) to Mid Rise (11m – 18m or 7 floors), and the volume of Mid Rise buildings. The national estimates were between 90,000 to 150,000 buildings. The Service had a designated officer that was working with all Local Authorities to determine the number of Mid Rise properties in Lancashire, how they would be triaged, how many had construction deficiencies to make safe, and how many were compliant. It was important to know the extent of the risk regarding combustible cladding etc.

Station Manager Barnes explained that there was a directive for the Responsible Person to carry out an external wall survey using a government template to risk rate the building and identify whether there were flammable or combustible materials for which, remedial work would need to be undertaken. Government funding was available for High Rise remediations, however, at present, there was no fund for Mid Rise remediations. Previous guidance for High Rise buildings was for residents to stay within their flats in the event of a fire, but in the case of external combustible materials, evacuation could be needed for which a 24-hour waking watch could be required (typical costings for such a provision had been in excess of £25k per month.

In response to a question from County Councillor O’Toole as to whether the Service could withhold a Fire Safety Certificate from those buildings with combustible cladding, Station Manager Barnes, advised that under the Fire Safety Order 2005, the accountability was put onto the Responsible Person to carry out a fire risk assessment which would identify any deficiencies. When the Fire Service carried out an inspection, a letter could be issued which stated that fire safety measures were in place and the building was suitable for purpose. If it was not suitable, the Fire Service could potentially enforce or prohibit.

County Councillor O’Toole queried, on cases where residents owned their apartments but not the leasehold and the maintenance of the building was via a management company, whether there was legislation to enforce combustible cladding removal. Station Manager Barnes, explained that the Service could use Land Registry to identify the Responsible Person whose duty it was to enact requirements. The Service tried to work with Responsible Persons to introduce fire safety measures to manage risks.

County Councillor Yates asked whether the Service was consulted regarding new build properties. Station Manager Barnes confirmed that the Service was a statutory consultee with any property over 2 floors with residents with a building over 18m going to the Building Safety Regulator and HSE. In the case of high rise buildings, the Service would be consulted at Gateways 2 and 3.

The Chair thanked Station Manager, Steven Barnes for a wonderful presentation.

Resolved: - that the Performance Committee noted the report.