To receive questions from Councillors in accordance with Standing Order No.19.
Question submitted by Councillor Fordham:
“To ask where a family or resident in the Borough experiences a serious fire, resulting in loss of home what supporting measures are in place for the Borough as our planned emergency response? Given the fire that occurred in Brockwell two years ago, when the Fire Brigade did not notify the Council of the incident, what changes have been made to local partnerships to ensure we provide the necessary support.”
Question submitted by Councillor Fordham:
“To ask how many people who are single occupancy tenants with the Borough have died in Council owned accommodation over the last four years and what support measures have been put in place to support the family and neighbours? And whether these measures are in need of review and might be made more supportive and understanding of the trauma of such situations for those affected?”
Question submitted by Councillor Kelly:
“On 30th July 2019 Chesterfield Borough Council wrote to Cllr J Perkins, the then Chair of the Derbyshire Pension Fund to advise that the following motion was passed by the full Council meeting of Chesterfield Borough Council on 15 July, 2020:
“Having declared a Climate Emergency Chesterfield Borough Council commits with the Derbyshire Pensioners Group, Transition Chesterfield, Friends of The Earth and Divest Derbyshire in calling for the Derbyshire Pension Fund to disinvest its remaining funds in fossil fuels and to invest in renewables.
In addition, we are calling for Derbyshire Pension Fund to strengthen engagement regarding future investment principles with all stakeholders including pension fund members and employers.”
Cllr Perkins replied informing the Council that it was the Pension Fund’s intention to develop a climate change policy. I note that this has now been adopted and published on the Derbyshire Pensions Fund website.
Have we (Chesterfield Borough Council) had an update from Derbyshire Pension Fund on the progress they are making with implementing the policy? I am sure that our employees who are members of the fund will be keen to know.”
Minutes:
Under Standing Order No. 19 Councillor Fordham asked the following question:
“To ask where a family or resident in the Borough experiences a serious fire, resulting in loss of home what supporting measures are in place for the Borough as our planned emergency response? Given the fire that occurred in Brockwell two years ago, when the Fire Brigade did not notify the Council of the incident, what changes have been made to local partnerships to ensure we provide the necessary support.”
Councillor Ludlow provided a verbal response confirming that the correct procedure in these circumstances was for the Police and / or Fire Service to notify Derbyshire County Council’s Emergency Planning Duty Officer, who in turn should notify Chesterfield Borough Council. Following the incident in Brockwell the council had raised the issue via the Derbyshire Local Resilience Forum with both control rooms and separately highlighted the communications failure at the multi-agency debriefs that followed.
Additional training had since been given to control room staff and front-line officers as part of the Derbyshire Local Resilience Forum’s commitment to regularly review and update its training and guidance materials.
Where Chesterfield Borough Council is the landlord, an officer from the Neighbourhoods Team (part of Housing Services) would immediately be allocated to act as the key point of contact for all council staff and for all affected tenants. On the advice of others including the Fire Service and Derbyshire Building Control Service, if the home was found to be uninhabitable, urgent steps would be taken to provide alternative accommodation via the council’s Homelessness and Allocations Team.
If needed, tenants would be signposted to sources of furniture and white goods. Rent charges would not be duplicated across the fire affected and alternative accommodation and the Housing service would also work with affected tenants to decide whether it would be better for them to move permanently or return to their original accommodation.
If the fire happened to be in a block of flats, a routine welfare check would be undertaken of other tenants as soon as possible as well as an assessment to understand whether one or more might also require alternative accommodation. Council staff would also seek to give reassurance about tenants’ safety within the block and respond to tenants’ concerns.
Where Chesterfield Borough Council is not the landlord for the affected property, its role would usually involve assessing residents’ needs with regards temporary accommodation, which could extend to supporting Derbyshire County Council to establish a rest centre and providing advice and support via the Homelessness and Allocations Team, including how best to access emergency funds.
Under Standing Order No. 19 Councillor Fordham asked the following question:
“To ask how many people who are single occupancy tenants with the Borough have died in Council owned accommodation over the last four years and what support measures have been put in place to support the family and neighbours? And whether these measures are in need of review and might be made more supportive and understanding of the trauma of such situations for those affected?”
Councillor Ludlow provided a verbal response advising that in the last four years, there had been 737 cases where the death of a tenant was the reason for tenancy termination.
It was explained that when a tenant who lives alone dies, there was no right of succession to the tenancy, however the Council still legally required a written notice to end the tenancy. This could be provided by an executor named in the tenant’s will or an administrator who had obtained letters of administration or the grant of probate.
If there was no executor or administrator, Chesterfield Borough Council would serve a notice to quit on the public trustee and on any personal representatives of the deceased tenant. Tenancies would be transferred temporarily to the public trustee if a tenant died without a will, or without an executor / administrator. The tenancy would then end four weeks after the notice to quit was served.
On the expiry of the notice to quit, a notice under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 would be served at the property and on any personal representatives of the deceased tenant. This gave them 31 days to collect the deceased’s belongings. Contact details were provided, and other key information should the personal representatives require support. On the expiry of the notice, if no contact had been received, the Council would dispose of the deceased’s belongings in an appropriate manner.
Most single occupancy tenants had friends or relatives who could deal with their affairs, however tracing them was often challenging. A significant amount of time was spent trying to locate and sensitively contact next of kin when tenants had not updated the contact details for relatives. Recent examples included tracing relatives that had been estranged from tenants for many years, in one case for over 30 years, and tenants whose families were based in different parts of the world.
If a tenant died and despite all efforts, the next of kin could not be contacted and / or an executor or administrator identified, a funeral would be organised and funded by Chesterfield Borough Council. The funerals were simple but dignified and, on most occasions, it had been possible to identify friends and neighbours who wished to attend.
The Council also regularly provided information and referred family, friends and neighbours to a range of organisations providing bereavement care and support.