Industry News


Grenfell gas supply company hit with record penalty


investigation found serious safety failings including having no details of gas pipes in 775 high-rise buildings. An investigation last year found Cadent did not


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have safety records for many of its gas supply pipes and that pipes in the 775 tower blocks may not have received regular maintenance inspections, or been serviced. In addition individual customers were left without gas for months on end and not receiving the compensation they were entitled to. The company’s failings only came to light after it


was asked to provide information to Ofgem, in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. It claimed that Grenfell was not among the blocks of flats affected by its missing records, although many other tower blocks in London were. It has since created a new database of all its assets. Cadent has also committed to a set of


he giant gas network company Cadent is to pay a record sum of £44m in fines and compensation to customers, after an


improvements and recommendations to keep its records fully updated and accurate and will report back to Ofgem on progress Cadent chief executive Steve Hurrell apologised,


saying the company had “fallen short of customer expectations and the higher standards we have now set ourselves”. Some of the company’s record- keeping systems are decades old but they are now being updated, Mr Hurrell said. The Health & Safety Executive is now investigating the issue. The company runs half of Britain's regional gas


networks. It has been ordered to pay a record £24m fine and will set up a £20m support fund for vulnerable customers after the energy watchdog discovered “serious” failings. Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan said:


“Cadent has a duty of care and responsibility to millions of people across half of the country who rely on the gas it pipes to their homes for cooking and heating. “Cadent acknowledges that it failed these


An investigation last year found Cadent did not have safety records for many of its gas supply pipes and that pipes in the 775 tower blocks may not have received regular maintenance inspections, or been serviced


customers by leaving many without gas for longer than necessary, failing to properly compensate some of those affected and not having the proper systems in place to keep records of all the high-rise blocks of flats it supplies.”


Campaigners welcome additions to Grenfell inquiry panel


Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have welcomed the appointment of two new panel members for the second phase of the public inquiry. They called the move a step towards "truth and justice". Professor Nabeel Hamdi and architect Thouria


Istephan will join Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s panel, after the Prime Minister gave in to pressure from the Grenfell United campaign group. The PM said she was "confident" in their "diversity of skills". Phase two of the inquiry is expected to start


either later this year or early next year. It is expected to focus on the causes of the fire and its rapid spread up the external cladding, which many witnesses have blamed for trapping many residents in the fire ravaged tower block. Grenfell United who represent the survivors and


bereaved families, said: "We campaigned hard to secure a panel at our inquiry and thanks to support from 150,000 people across the country, now we've got one."


"We fought for this because we are certain


that, at every layer, this inquiry will uncover practises that led to the deaths of our loved ones and neighbours, and continues to put lives at risk," it added. It said it hoped Professor Hamdi and Ms


Istephan along with Sir Martin Moore-Bick, will show the "courage to speak truth to power and a commitment to deliver change". Professor Hamdi is an academic with an


international reputation in housing and participatory design and planning. He works at Oxford Brookes University, while Ms Istephan has been a partner at Foster + Partners architectural practice since 2007 and their Technical Design Deputy since 2015.


HA to demolish tower blocks over fire safety concerns


A Merseyside housing association is to demolish four tower blocks which failed fire safety tests and resulted in the landlord being censured last year by the housing regulator for governance failures. Knowsley Housing Trust owns the high rise


blocks at Gaywood Green in Kirkby, comprising 256 flats. The organisation had been considering the long-term viability of Gaywood Green for five years


and the demolition plan was approved by their board in 2018. Some tenants have already been moved away


from the blocks, with a full decant expected to take another 18 months as it develops regeneration plans for the estate. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service issued KHT with four enforcement notices for the Gaywood


8 | HMM June/July 2019 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


Green tower blocks in 2018. It then emerged it had previously received three enforcement notices for tower blocks at Quarry Green Heights, also in Kirkby, in November 2017. The Gaywood Green notices raised concerns


over the blocks’ electrical trunking, lack of fire action notices for residents, lack of emergency lighting in escape routes, fire doors, windows, use of unprotected plastic pipes and the presence of MDF panels in fire-resisting screens and doors. KHT became the first HA to be downgraded to a


non-compliant G3 governance rating by the social housing regulator on fire safety grounds since the Grenfell Tower disaster.


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