Westminster City Hall 5 Strand London, WC2N 5HR. Letter to all residents in the Little Venice Estate tower blocks. Fire safety update 28th June

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1 Westminster City Council westminster.gov.uk Westminster City Hall 5 Strand London, WC2N 5HR Letter to all residents in the Little Venice Estate tower blocks Fire safety update 28th June Dear resident, Last night many of you came to the Little Venice Estate Office to hear the latest information on fire safety in your buildings. As promised, we said we will put in writing what was discussed. The first thing to say is that we want to reassure you that the situation at Little Venice is not the same as in Camden or at Grenfell Tower. Like every other local authority in the country that has so far sent cladding for testing, the Government informed us yesterday (27 June) that the cladding panel that was removed from Little Venice for testing does not fully comply with its safety tests. However, the insulation behind the cladding is different from Grenfell. The insulation material installed at Little Venice has Rockwool panels, which are non-flammable panels made of ground stone and are directly fixed to the existing building. Additionally, the problems that were identified in Camden were issues as well as cladding ie their gas pipe insulation and fire doors. These fire safety concerns are not present here. Over the last week, all six blocks have already had a preliminary visit from the London Fire Brigade and since Monday it has been conducting more detailed inspections. The LFB has completed more detailed inspections in four out of the six blocks and are due to complete the final full inspections, of Brindley and Gaydon, within the next 24 hours. Where the London Fire Brigade has completed its full inspection, it has said that they are satisfied that CityWest Homes, who are responsible for fire safety, are putting in place appropriate fire safety measures to mitigate the risks from fire. Any issues that come to our attention as a result of the full inspections will be dealt with immediately and we have experts on site to do that quickly. In the meantime, we will maintain our 24 hour cover and patrols across the estate that we brought in as a reassurance measure after the Grenfell fire. Where they have completed their full inspections so far, the London Fire Brigade have come back with some minor issues for us to look at, such as replacing a small number of door closing mechanisms on the front doors of some flats. We will replace these as an absolute priority. We are also already conducting fire safety checks through independent experts and we will share these results with you when we have them. We therefore believe that there is no need for evacuation and people can stay in their homes, although we understand that residents will remain concerned and have many questions.

2 Finally, we will make sure you are kept informed throughout. We want to reassure residents that introducing any new fire safety measures and completing any work required by the London Fire Brigade will be done regardless of cost to the council as the most important issue is your safety. What will happen next? We told residents at the meeting that we will also go a step further in making sure you are safe. We will therefore install sprinklers in the six tower blocks in Little Venice as a priority. We are looking at the best way of doing this and will present the options when this has been developed by independent sprinkler specialists. We will also remove wooden decking from balconies and we will look at the best solution for the cladding on the outside of the building. We are prepared to remove all the cladding, but doing this could potentially cause other issues for residents, such as disruptive major works for a long period of time. We are also looking at bringing in additional fire safety measures such as replacing some of the cladding to provide further fire breaks which we are testing with the London Fire Brigade and independent fire experts. The package of solutions we are proposing could, in fact, cost more than simply removing and replacing cladding but could be done more quickly and with less disruption and we believe would be more effective in making the buildings even safer. We are asking independent experts to evaluate all options. We welcome any views and feedback from you about the best way forward. To keep you informed, we will provide all the facts and information from the independent checks so far including the independent assessments and the London Fire Brigade inspection. All of this information will be put up in the Warwick Community hall in the next week, when we have received the reports and we have them available. How can I find out more? We know you will have some questions that you would like answered and we will be only too happy to do so. Here s how you can find out more: You can visit the CityWest Homes website info@cwh.org.uk You can also speak to the dedicated team at the Little Venice Estate Office. The sessions will run from 9am to 7.30pm Monday to Friday this week and then run from 9am to 5pm in July. We will be contacting our vulnerable residents to make sure they have this information and can answer any questions they might have. We will be setting up follow up surgeries and sessions in order to discuss the detailed plans with you as we develop them. As noted we have people available in the office you can speak to now and we

3 will be in contact to let you know about our office surgeries where we will have experts to talk about the specific solutions. We would like to thank you for your patience during this difficult time and we look forward to working with you on these important matters. Yours faithfully, Cllr Rachael Robathan, Cabinet Member for Housing Barbara Brownlee, Director of Housing Cllr Rachael Robathan Cabinet Member for Housing Barbara Brownlee Director of Housing and Regeneration Frequently Asked Questions Why are you going to install sprinklers and remove cladding if you say the building is safe? We know from previous fires, that the fire prevention measures in these buildings worked as they were designed to. The building is also subject to regular and extensive testing, including the London Fire Brigade conducting detailed joint inspections with us over the past week. This new work will be about making it even safer. Why did you install cladding that doesn t pass national safety tests? Cladding was installed at Little Venice in 2006 in order to insulate the building and keep out rain. The cladding, and the way it is fixed together and to the building, is called the cladding system. At Little Venice it is not the same as Grenfell Tower or the blocks in Camden. The insulation material installed at Little Venice has Rockwool panels, which are non-flammable panels made of ground stone, directly fixed to the existing building. This insulation is different to that which we understand was installed at Grenfell Tower. The specification for the outer layer is believed to be similar, but not identical, and our records show that fire breaks are installed within the cladding system in your building at various levels. The aim of this is to prevent any fire from spreading.

4 The cladding installed at Little Venice meets Building Control requirements, was installed correctly at the time and was subject to rigorous checks. What are you going to do with the cladding? We are prepared to remove all the cladding, but doing this could potentially cause other issues for residents. We are exploring other solutions that will provide further fire breaks which we are testing with the London Fire Brigade and independent fire experts. It is important to know that the cladding system at Little Venice is very different from Grenfell and only covers 25% of the building, unlike other blocks in London and the UK which are completely or mostly clad. We are working with fire safety specialists and the London Fire Brigade to make sure they are satisfied that any work we do enhances fire safety. Why do you say it is safe for people to remain in their homes? Here is the latest Government guidance about their cladding fire safety tests: It is important to stress that cladding itself is not dangerous, but it is important that the right type is used. Also, a failure in testing of the cladding does not necessarily mean that a building will have to be evacuated; the decision by Camden Council to evacuate 4 of the 5 towers on the Chalcots Estate was because the failed testing of the external cladding was compounded by multiple other fire safety failures which the fire inspection team found within the buildings. This is totally different to the situation at Little Venice because the buildings are well designed and very recent inspections by the London Fire Brigade have shown that, even with the partial cladding on the building, people can stay safely in their homes. What else are you doing to ensure fire safety? Fire safety in buildings is dependent on a large number of factors. In your building, the last fire risk assessment was carried out within the last 12 months and the building is assessed to be at low risk. Properties have been fitted with smoke alarms and we are working to ensure all tenanted properties have one. The recent major works and decorations included fire resistant paint in all communal areas. We currently have round the clock cover to ensure proactive monitoring and provide reassurance and will continue to do so. We are also conducting other independent tests. We are also reviewing other local arrangements and inspections.

5 How long will it take to install sprinklers? We are planning to retrofit sprinklers in our buildings that are over 30 metres in height. The installation in new build schemes over 30m in height is a requirement of current building regulations although these are not retrospective.. We will present the options back when the experts have fed back.