Grenfell Tower fire: Urgent report ordered into Walsall high rise tower blocks

Walsall councillor Adrian Andrew, the chair of a scrutiny committee, has called on officers at the Black Country council to produce a report into the health and safety of high rises in the borough.

Councillor Andrew wants reassurance there are no fire risks and no chance of the horrific scenes of the London fire being repeated in Walsall.

The report will be debated by members from all political parties at the Corporate and Public Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Thursday.

Councillor Andrew said: "I have requested officers to do an urgent report on our high rises to see if there is any safety concerns. I am sure everything is safe, I just want to put people at ease.

"The council does not own or run any high rises in the borough with the exception of maybe one but I have asked the officers to speak to the housing providers and get information from them.

"We just need to make sure things are in place in these tower blocks as they should be.

"What happened at Grenfell was an absolute tragedy, words cannot described it. It is particularly distressing how it seemed to take hold so quickly.

"I am trying to take it through the proper way and not make it political. The scrutiny committee has members of al parties so it will be a cross party debate.

"I am hoping this way we will be able to properly scrutinise what is going on, but I am sure there will not be any problems."

In a separate statement councillor Sean Coughlan, the Labour leader of Walsall Council, said the council would 'evaluate' the outcome of any investigation into the London fire to see if anything need to change in Walsall.

He said: "We are all appalled and horrified at the news of the devastating fire in Kensington and our hearts go out to the many families affected.”

"Obviously at this stage no investigation has taken place. We will need to evaluate the outcome of the investigation and any recommendations in order to understand if there are lessons to be learned here in Walsall.”

"Walsall Council transferred its housing stock several years ago and is therefore not a housing provider. As the largest provider of social rented housing in the borough whg is taking steps to reassure its tenants about the measures taken to ensure safety."

The Grenfell Tower fire happened last Wednesday. So far 30 people have been confirmed dead with 58 more missing or presumed dead.