An attempt to reveal the full cost of 14 wardens providing 24 hour-a-day fire safety cover at two residential tower blocks has been rejected.
Tower blocks at Mellish Court and The Gables were built 60 years ago using fire safety standards acceptable then, but which fall short of today’s rules.
“The cost is shocking,” said Conservative leader Cllr Alex Walker (Stantonbury) after Tuesday’s delegated decisions meeting. “It moves this from a moral scandal to a financial one.”
Under the council’s constitution a cabinet member has to make a decision if a contract is more than £500,000. The exact figure was kept under wraps.
Cllr Walker called for the actual amount to be revealed in the public interest.
The delegated decisions meeting on Tuesday (November 10) was told by a council solicitor that the information is “commercially sensitive to the council as well as the contractor.”
The Conservatives have repeatedly called for residents at both blocks to be “evacuated immediately”.
But the Labour-run council has resisted calls to carry out a speedy evacuation, wanting to avoid splitting up friends and communities and using temporary accommodation.
Both options for the future of the sites – demolition or refurbishment – mean residents will have to leave eventually.
Cllr Emily Darlington (Lab, Bletchley East) said wardens are: “The best and most appropriate way forward to ensure that our tenants remain safe in those buildings should there be a fire.”
Questions over why money allocated was not already spent continued to be raised at a meeting of the council’s community and housing scrutiny committee, also on Tuesday.
Cllr Amanda Marlow (Cons, Loughton & Shenley) said: “It’s clear that the council knew of its duty as far back as 2016 when you budgeted about £770,000 for fire upgrades, a budget that has since increased to £1.8m, with only six per cent of this being spent.
“Given that the council knew of their duty to residents to upgrade the fire safety measures in 2016, and were reminded of this every year since, why has the council not taken action sooner?”
Michael Kelleher, the council’s director of housing and regeneration, said YourMK, a now defunct collaboration between contractor Mears and the council “did not carry forward the responsibilities with regards to those reports.”
The council says though that fire safety work has taken place.
Mr Kelleher added that money has been placed in a two year programme, with 2019-20 being the first, and that a sprinkler system was “discounted in 2019” which was “in line with our discussions with Bucks Fire and Rescue.”
But Phil Mould, of Bucks Fire & Rescue Service said: “To my recollection at no point has Bucks Fire ever said do not fit sprinklers.
“As the enforcing authority it would not be our place to do that. It is a responsibility of the responsible person (the council).”
He said the fire service had promoted a £250,000 sprinkler fund for “many years” but that no-one applied for any money.
But he added that the service is “currently satisfied with the interim control measures.”
READ MORE: Two tower blocks in Milton Keynes do not meet current fire safety standards
