Gravesham Borough Council has become the first local authority in the country to complete the first stage of a programme designed to ensure the safety of its council home tenants.
The council has been awarded a Certificate of Commitment and Progress, marking its completion of the first step on the road to achieving the Building a Safer Future Champion status.
The programme is designed to equip organisations with the knowledge and tools to review and upgrade their processes and regain public trust following the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The first stage looked at the leadership and culture of the authority, which owns and maintains 5,700 council homes in the borough.
Steve Elliott, non-executive chair of Building a Safer Future, said: “Successfully completing the first stage of the assessment is a real accomplishment that proves the council’s hard work in prioritising building safety.
“We would like many more organisations to follow their lead in signing up for the process to take advantage of an independent eye appraising their building safety leadership and culture.”
Gravesham is now embarking on the second stage of the process, which if completed is likely to see it become the first local authority to achieve Building a Safer Future Champion status.
Cllr Jenny Wallace, Gravesham Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing Services, said: “The safety of each and every one of our thousands of residents is our absolute, number one priority.
“We have always worked to ensure our homes meet and, if possible, exceed national safety standards, but Grenfell was a tragic wake-up call for landlords from both the public and private sector.
“Since then, we have redoubled our efforts to keep our tenants safe, and to be the first local authority to complete the first stage of the Building a Safer Future Champion programme is a mark of just how committed members and officers are to doing just that.”