Our commitment to fire safety
The Council remains committed to fire safety and will ensure that it undertakes any improvements necessary to existing stock and incorporates any lessons learned into its procedures for fire safety.
The Council’s statutory duties
The Council has a statutory duty to carry out Fire Risk Assessments (FRA) and undertake general precautions to minimise the risk to residents from the risk of fire. Scheduled FRAs are carried out on all the council's stock with frequency varying according to the assessed level of risk.
See our FAQs section.
General advice
Wherever you live you should always know how you could get out in the event of a fire – should you need to. This means thinking about escape routes now.
If you live in a house and find a fire in the property, you should leave immediately and call the fire brigade.
If you live in a flat or maisonette, there will be a ‘Fire Action Notice’ in a prominent position in the communal areas of the property and you should follow the advice in this notice in the event of a fire. You should familiarise yourself with the contents of this notice asap.
If like most flats and maisonettes owned by the borough, your home is in a purpose built block of flats or maisonettes, the fire action notice will probably advise you to stay put in your home in the event of a fire elsewhere in the building AS LONG AS IT IS SAFE TO DO SO, because the building has been designed to contain individual fires within the home and provide sufficient time for the fire brigade to attend and deal with it. However, you are the best judge of your own safety and in all cases if you see fire or smoke within your home you should leave, close the fire door behind you, and call the fire brigade.
