Tower block evacuation 'justified' despite 'harm'

The evacuation of a structurally unsafe tower block was "appropriate and justified" but it caused "avoidable harm" to residents, an independent review has found.

Bristol City Council (BCC) commissioned a review into its handling of the evacuation of more than 400 residents at Barton House on 14 November 2023 after a major incident was declared.

Residents were told to pack enough for "a day or two", but they were unable to return to their homes until February 2024.

A BCC spokesperson said: "Our focus is on continuing to rebuild trust, listening to residents, and making sure the lessons from Barton House contribute to meaningful and lasting improvements for all residents across Bristol."

The evacuation was prompted after "major structural faults" were discovered in the tower block, which is the city's oldest.

BCC said at the time that concrete had not been attached properly and the tower had not been constructed according to the design plans when it was built in 1958.

Building surveys ruled that three of 98 flats in the tower would be unsafe in the event of a fire, explosion or large impact.

Fire and electrical inspectors also found "significant" failings, with a lack of routine safety checks and missing or below standard fire prevention measures.

Medact, a health justice campaign group, published a report last year that said the evacuation was a "mass-traumatising event".

Altair, which carried out the independent review for BCC, said the "severe disruption" caused by the evacuation and handling of the situation had caused "long-lasting harm" to residents.

As a result, it said trust in the authority remained "significantly damaged" due to its "delayed and unclear" communication about the decision to evacuate.

BCC acknowledged the "distress and uncertainty" felt by residents, but said the decision to evacuate was "the right one in terms of putting resident safety first".

The authority also admitted that their actions led to "unintended consequences, including lasting damage to trust", but said the early stages of its response "did not anticipate the scale of need of residents".

Councillor Barry Parsons, chair of the Homes and Housing Delivery Committee, thanked everybody who contributed to the review, particularly the Barton House residents.

He said: "Reliving such a difficult period will not have been easy, and their willingness to speak candidly was essential in helping us understand both the strengths of the response and where things could have been better, and the lasting impact this had."

He added that the report reflected the "reality" of the situation where concerns about the building were raised a year prior to the evacuation, but were ignored.

The review recommended that the council establishes a Housing Strategy and Assurance Division, improves its processes for acting on government advice, as well as training their staff in risk, safety and governance.

It also recommended that the authority should work with residents on the future of the building and provide them with more opportunities to be briefed on the most recent technical assessments.

The authority was also urged to strengthen its major incident planning and scenario-testing with residents and improve communication frameworks in the event of major incidents.

Parsons said BCC had already acted on Altair's recommendations and had made "significant" changes to leadership and organisational structure within housing services, as well as a implementing a dedicated executive director for housing and creating additional senior roles to "strengthen oversight, accountability and risk management".

A new Resident Voice Strategy has also been developed to set out "more inclusive and transparent approach to engagement", with the aim to improve and act on feedback with residents, Parsons said.

He added that the authority was working to improve the quality and safety of existing homes to ensure they meet all regulatory standards and there would be a "great emphasis" on building an understanding of residents' needs in advance, improving communications and maintaining a visible presence to provide support and reassurance.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.