Found guilty of 18 offences

After pleading guilty to 18 offences relating to two houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), Lettings of London Ltd has been ordered to pay over £50,000.

The letting agent, based in North London, was found guilty at Stevenage Magistrates’ Court and will pay fines of £43,000 and £10,000 to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

After council officers carried out an initial inspection of the properties in 2018, a number of deficiencies were found, which included that the fire safety equipment in both houses had not been maintained in good working order.

There were also no working fire alarms or fire blankets in either property, the self-closers on fire doors were not working, emergency lighting was not working and there were loose coping stones and rusted metal handrails on an external staircase outside one of the properties.

Initially, the landlord argued that the properties were in a good state of repair, regularly inspected and that any issues were rectified in good time.

Simone Russell, corporate director at WHBC, said: “This is the second case this year with one of the largest fines we have seen for offences relating to HMO properties.

“These were serious breaches of the law and could have led to severe injury or worse.”

He continued, “Landlords can join our council-run accreditation scheme, PAL, which makes it easier for landlords to understand meet high standards of management practice.”

Original Source
Welwyn Hatfield Times

Potentially ‘serious detriment’ to tenants

The Regulator of Social Housing has found that statutory requirements across a range of areas including fire safety, asbestos and electrical safety have not been met by Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council (Gateshead MBC).

As a consequence of these issues, the Council has been found in breach of the Home Standard and a correction programme is currently in place.

It was found that, as a consequence of the breach, there was the potential for serious detriment to tenants, caused through management organisation The Gateshead Housing Company.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Council has a statutory duty to regularly assess the risk of fire in properties where it has responsibility for maintenance and to take precautions to prevent the risk of fire.

Up until mid-2018, there was no programme to carry out risk assessments across properties in the area and, although fire risk assessments were carried out on many high-rise properties, they were not carried out in other locations.

Since identifying these issues, Gateshead MBC has been carrying out a programme of fire risk assessments and has developed a programme to undertake the works arising from those assessments prioritised according to risk.

Concluded in the official government document, “The Regulator of Social Housing will work with Gateshead MBC as it seeks to address the issues which have led to this situation, and will consider what, if any, further action to take in relation to the breach of the Home standard.”

Original Source
Gov.uk

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Fire threatened lives

A former publican pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court in London to violating Article 8 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, consisting of his duty to take appropriate fire precautions.

Thomas Melody was fined £1000 and was ordered to pay £10,000 in costs to Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service (HFRS) after a fire broke out at his pub, the former Boar’s Head, which did not have a working smoke alarm.

The fire broke out in March 2016, a year after fire safety officers had directed him to install a smoke alarm, and, when firefighters arrived at the scene, they found an alarm had been disabled and the fire doors were not working correctly.

It was later identified that the fire alarm panel had no power and its fuse had also been removed.

Hertfordshire’s chief fire officer said the occupants were “extremely fortunate” not to be injured or even killed.

In sentencing, Judge John Dodd QC told him: “I have to deal with you for an offence that does not come often before this court.

“It seems […] that you had warning shots fired across your bows in 2014-15 when fire officers visited. It is unfortunate that you seem to have treated those public servants with a measure of disdain and possibly arrogance as they pointed out your duties.

“Fire officers found the fire alarm had been disabled and fire doors were not working properly. That is why you appear before the criminal courts to plead guilty to a criminal offence which mercifully had no impact on human life.

“The message must go out that the law is there to be observed for very good reason.”

Thomas’s defence lawyer said that his client was “highly ashamed” of his actions and had apologised to the residents who were living at the pub at the time of the fire.

Original Source
Bishops Stortford Independent 

850 year old building

The medieval cathedral in Paris, Notre-Dame, was overtaken by a major fire at 16:30(GMT) on the 15th April, which has caused the spire and roof to collapse.

Two bell towers and the main structure have been saved, according to officials, but all the stained-glass windows and wooden interior have been destroyed.

Deputy Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said the building had suffered ‘colossal damages’, and teams were working to save the cathedral’s remaining artwork.

The fire has now officially been put out, but it is not yet known if the artwork stored inside was salvaged. It is known that, due to the renovation work, 16 copper statues were removed from the building last week.

President Emmanuel Macron called it a ‘terrible tragedy’ and vowed to launch an international fundraising scheme to rebuild the cathedral.

The cause of the fire is not yet clear, but officials have claimed it could be linked to renovation works on the stone structure, causing many to doubt if the structure will survive in the long-term.

Over 500 firefighters worked to prevent the bell towers collapsing, which was achieved after four hours.

One firefighter has been seriously injured in the fire.

Original Source

BBC

Cause of fire not suspicious

A fire is being tackled by firefighters in Blackburn at the former Church of St John the Evangelist, which opened in 1789.

Chris Archer, Blackburn’s fire service watch manager, said the cause of the fire was not suspicious.

The Grade II listed building, which is now used at the Bureau Centre for the Arts, is the oldest church in the town.

Firefighters were working to save the most historical features, included the stained-glass windows.

The Dean of Blackburn Cathedral, the Very Reverend Peter Howell-Jones, tweeted, “Very sad to see. Just praying no one was hurt.”

Original Source
BBC

Failed to meet fire safety standards 

A prison sentence of 17 weeks (suspended for 18 months) has been handed to Tony Stearman of the Poachers Inn, Exeter for failing to meet fire safety standards.

Tony pleaded guilty to five offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 at Exeter Magistrates Court and was also ordered to pay £5000 to Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service (DSFRS).

An inspection was carried out by officers from DSFRS in 2017, which discovered that Tony Stearman failed to implement the recommendations of a fire risk assessment.

The offences related to a number of failures in fire safety, including:

• The fire detection and warning system fell far short of the standard expected in premises providing guest accommodation
• The escape route from the guest accommodation was not adequately protected by fire resisting construction and discharged directly into the bar area
• A linen cupboard which also housed an electrically powered immersion heater was located in the escape route.

When asked why he had not acted upon the recommendations from the risk assessor, he stated he had treated it as things that he “ought to do” as opposed to things “he had to do.”

Business safety manager Rod Schneider said: “Mr Stearman understood the need for a Fire Risk Assessment yet failed to comply with the requirements of the Fire Safety Order by ignoring advice from those he had appointed to assist.

“He was well aware of his fire safety responsibilities and the need to ensure people visiting and staying at the premises were safe yet put lives at risk by prioritising profit over safety.”

Original Source 
Devon & Somerset Fire 

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Serious detriment to tenants

Kinsman Housing Limited has been found guilty by the Regulator of Social Housing of breaching the Home Standard, which includes requirements under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order to assess and take precautions to the risk of fire.

A third party informed the Regulator that Kinsman had not adequately responded to potential issues with the structural safety of a number of its homes, along with concerns about the safety of gas, fire and electrical installations.

A survey carried out in December 2018 identified some serious and wide-ranging defects and repair issues, leading to major concerns in relation to fire safety.

Although a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) for the building (dated January 2018) concluded that the risk was at a tolerable level, there were a number of follow up actions necessary to ensure the property and its tenants were safe, demonstrating how slow Kinsman was to act.

Taking into account the seriousness of the issues, and the duration for which tenants were potentially exposed to risk, Kinsman was found to be in breach of the Home standard.

It was also decided that there was a risk of serious detriment to tenants during this period.

A programme of works with the regulator and Kinsman is being carried out to rectify failures before a decision is made on whether to take further action.

Original Source
Regulator of Social Housing