Agenda item

Adrian Davies from Avon Fire and Rescue presented a report for August 2017 that covered activity and incidents for the Bath area.

Questions

Robin Kerr – At the previous meeting the question was raised ‘’how many of the 48 party houses in Bath have been inspected by the Fire Service?’’

Response – The details will need looked into and a response will be circulated. (This was sent by e-mail to forum members on 9 October 2017)

Councillor Bob Goodman – What is the approach to buildings with more than five floors?

Response – The Fire Service has a record of these buildings and treat them in the same way they would high rise buildings.

Caroline Kay – What plans are in place for museum buildings?

Response – There are already many buildings that have salvage plans in place, those that do not are encourage to work with the Fire Service to get these into place.

Councillor Shaun Stephenson-McGall - What work is taking place with the Universities around river safety issues? 

Response – The Fire Service are working on getting pro-active message out. The Student Community Partnership has an agenda item on the river at the October meeting.

George Samios – Are there any high rise buildings in Bath that have cladding on them? And have the Schools in Bath been checked for safety issues?

Response – Berkeley House in Snow Hill is the only building in Bath that is classified as a high rise and does not have cladding issues. The cladding used in Grenville Tower has been used by industry across many types of buildings. There is confidence that all schools are safe, none are high rise and all have escape routes.

Ashley Ayre – Since Glenville the Council and Curo have had contact with the DCLG. The Council no longer hold any social housing stock in B&NES but has had conversations with providers about cladding issues, although some renovation work has taken place; the materials used were non-flammable.

The Councils estate and heritage buildings have been checked and safety checks were already in place.  Work with private landlords where there is cladding are working with Property Services in line with guidance from the DCLG.

Councillor Dine Romero – On low level buildings that have cladding which have been converted into homes, are there regulations that change?

Response – There is more stringent legislation in place.  

Councillor Dine Romero – Where the Fire Service fit smoke alarms into people homes they arrive in fire appliances, is this the best use of resource?

Response – Crews that are carrying out this work arrive in appliances as they need to be always available for emergency call-outs. Additionally the public see the fire crews as the face of the service and whe carrying out home visits there are at times other issues that are picked up and sign posted by trained crew members.

Councillor Shaun Stephenson-McGall – Has the recent issues involving senior officers and governance in the service had a knock on effect to front end crews?

Response – There is a feeling at grass roots level when the media are reporting negative news that this affects to image of the service as a whole.

There is a team investigating the issues and the findings will be shared. A new appointment has been made and we hope to see a positive impact as a result of this.

The important thing to remember is that the crews always strive to deliver a first class emergency service.

Shaun clarified that the local authority sees the recent news as a governance issue and is not related to the emergency service provision. 

Caroline Kay – The cladding issues in Bath have been helped by the use of Bath Stone over many years. The use of Bath Stone was not only used for aesthetics but has been show that it helps when there are fire hazards. 

Councillor Colin Blackburn – There report shows that there has been an increase in the number of call outs, how does this effect delivery of service for front line crews?

Response – Crews plan other duties but when call levels do rise the priorities have to change and rescheduling of other duties has to take place.