To consider a report from Trafford Housing Trust.

The Director of Development for Trafford Housing Trust (THT) introduced the item and apologised for the continued delays on the cladding replacement programme. Since the last meeting there had been an issue with the colour of the cladding received, which had led to additional delays and the scaffolding remaining on Pickford court. THT had an interim solution that would be put in place to enable the scaffolding to be removed before the permanent changes were made.

The Director of Development for THT acknowledged THT had not been perfect in their communications with residents during the replacement of the cladding. However, the Committee were assured that THT had done as much as they could to maintain communications and the Director of Development for THT listed the methods they had used to communicate with residents during the programme of works. The Committee were also informed that THT had only received 13 formal complaints during the past year regarding the tower blocks.

The Vice Chair asked whether the dates given would categorically be met, as there had been deadlines set before which had been missed. The Director of Development for THT responded that he could not say categorically that the works would be completed by the dates given. With the information available those dates were the expected completion dates, although unforeseen circumstances could lead to further delays.

Councillor Dagnall asked whether the insulation was removed from flats in the blocks. The Director of Property Services for THT responded that insulation had been removed for a very limited number of properties.

Mr Stevenson was given an opportunity to ask his questions which had been submitted to the Committee and THT.  In addition to his questions Mr Stevenson informed the Committee of the impact the works had on the people living within the high rises, especially when there were incidents where the fire brigade were called to the flats, and explained the anxiety the delays in work had caused.

The Director of Development for THT noted and agreed with the points raised by Mr Stevenson and empathised with his experience. The Director of Development for THT was not able to give the exact details of when a piece of advice was given to THT by GMFRS due to the way the organisations worked together, where they will be on site visits or at minutes of meetings, which made it difficult to track when specific piece of advice was received. GMFRS had not served any actions against THT during the time, due to the Trust having met all the guidance that had been given.

Councillor Dagnall asked about the difficulties the trust faced in understanding, interpreting, and implementing the advice given relating to the ACM cladding and whether the trust thought of hiring an industry expert to aid in the dealing with that information. The Director of Development for THT responded that the trust had adjusted all their policies in line with the learning that they gained from GMFRS and expert advice.

Councillor Newgrosh noted the responses given by the Director of Development for THT about the communications with the fire service and was concerned that such important information was done through verbal agreements only and not backed up with written confirmation. The Director of Development for THT went through the ways that the Trust worked with the fire service. The Director of Property Services for THT added that the Trust approached the fire service with proposals of the work that they planned to do, such as the compartmentation which had been implemented.  

Mr Stevenson reiterated that the information was not being passed onto the residents and they were living not knowing what was being done. Also stated that would like to view the risk assessments done both before and after the cladding was brought down. The Director of Development for THT stated that THT would look at how the Trust had acted at the key points in the programme and what had been done in terms of information sharing with residents. The Director of Development for THT informed the Committee that THT published relevant fire information on their website and he would go back and see what was published at the time.

The Vice Chair asked that an update on where the work was up to on the 16^th of April to be sent to the Committee. The Vice Chair also asked that any further reports provided to the Committee contain more detail and be written in easier to understand language. The Director of Development for THT responded that the information would be taken back and THT would look to improve the communications shared with the Committee going forward.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the update be noted.

2)    That a further update on the progress of the cladding replacement programme be provided on the 16^th of April 2022.