To receive an update from Trafford Housing Trust.

The Chair invited Mr Stevenson to open the agenda item by asking the questions that he had submitted to the Committee.  Mr Stevenson went through each of his questions and the officers in attendance from Trafford Housing Trust (THT) provided responses at the meeting and added that a full written response would be provided addressing each question, which would be shared with the Committee and Mr Stevenson.

As Mr Stevenson was going through his questions Members raised a series of additional questions to the officers from THT. The Vice Chair of the Committee asked whether THT had a fire safety Communications Strategy in place to ensure a high quality of communication was maintained with residents. The Head of Building Safety confirmed that THT had a fire safety communications strategy in place aimed at improving communications. The strategy included regular meetings with resident groups about fire safety in addition to written communications and telephone communications.

Councillor Dagnall asked whether removing the cladding had any negative impacts on residents. The Acting Director of Property Services responded that removing the cladding had reduced the fire risk to residents but there were issues regarding insulation in some areas of the tower blocks. 

Councillor Dagnall noted the list of reasons for delays provided by THT and asked for the list to be ordered by importance for the Committee. The Acting Director of Property Services confirmed that this would be done in any future updates.

Councillor Butt noted that the Council had a representative on the Board of Directors and suggested that they should attend alongside THT Officers the next time THT attended the Committee.

Councillor Axford asked for details about the high-rise panels. The Head of Building Safety responded that the meetings occurred every six weeks, minutes of the meetings were taken, each panel had an action log, and THT were held responsible for completing the actions raised.  The Head of Building Safety attended the meetings himself and the meetings were attended by a mixture of officers and residents.

The Vice Chair noted THTs engagement with the Committee but added that the organisation should also contact ward Councillors directly when there were issues within their wards that impacted resident safety. He acknowledged the face-to-face residents’ meetings that THT arranged but felt they may miss those who are not keen to engage and could take more steps to reach those residents. The Acting Director of Property Services responded that he would take that feedback back and look to further improve communications. 

At the end of presenting his questions Mr Stevenson spoke of how residents wanted a full explanation of the process from the beginning to completion and all the issues that had occurred during that time.

The Chair noted the dates for completion within the report and asked if they were still accurate. The Acting Director of Property Services responded that there had been no changes to the estimated completion dates since the report was provided to the Committee.

The Chair enquired whether there had been any progress with retrofitting sprinklers in THT properties. The Acting Director of Property Services responded that LNQ were reviewing their entire housing stock with a view to retrofitting sprinklers where appropriate. The Head of Building Safety added that THT had been in constant consultation with the fire service and residents about retrofitting sprinklers to properties. The big challenge was around convincing residents as they often had a negative view of sprinklers due to years of misinformation and gave an example of an insurance advert showing sprinklers flooding a building.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the update from Trafford Housing Trust be noted.

2)    That the questions received from Mr Stevenson be noted.

3)    That a written response to Mr Stevenson’s questions be circulated to the Committee and Mr Stevenson.