Update Friday 16 June

“Housing staff will continue to visit properties in high rise buildings to offer guidance and reassurance if required and reminding residents that all communal areas and corridors are kept clear of any obstructions.

In addition to our regular inspections of fire equipment such as extinguishers, fire & smoke alarms, fire doors and emergency lighting, further checks have been made and no issues found.

A technical assessment on all the properties has been carried out and we are satisfied that the materials and construction methods used in our properties are inherently a very low fire risk.

All of our cladding works were designed and constructed to comply with the relevant building regulations and have been subject to building warrant approval.

Based on the information we have, the panel types used on Grenfell Tower are fundamentally different from the system used to clad our properties.

We are liaising with Scottish Government and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service on an ongoing basis. As more official information and guidance becomes available we will continue to review and update any of our actions as appropriate.

If any high-rise resident has concerns, they can speak with their local housing office or housing staff who are out and about at the various locations to seek reassurance.”

Wednesday 14 June

Councillor Gordon Hughes, Falkirk Council’s spokesperson for Housing said: “We are obviously shocked at events in London and our thoughts are with those affected by this terrible incident.

We have rigorous safety procedures and checks in place across all our hi-rise flats and undertake independent fire safety checks annually on all of the buildings.

Specialised checks are also carried out on fire prevention equipment e.g.: lighting; fire extinguishers etc. These checks are also supplemented by regular visits and checks by housing staff and fire safety advice given.

We liaise regularly with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to ensure our procedures and advice are up to date and if any changes are required, we would implement these as a matter of priority.

Our Neighbourhood Officers will be on site in the coming days to reassure and support tenants and residents should they have concerns.”

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has issued this statement on their website.