THE council is working with the fire service to investigate all buildings with cladding in the county, following the Grenfell Tower fire.

At the council's cabinet meeting last Thursday Elissa Swinglehurst said the London fire highlighted potential risks inherent in using certain exterior cladding on high rise buildings.

And she asked if such cladding had been used in the refurbishment of housing or public buildings in Herefordshire.

Cabinet member for contracts and assets, Harry Bramer, said Herefordshire does not have any high rise buildings (above 18m) and the council does not have any properties that have significant cladding.

He said, with regard to council properties: "We have identified a small number of properties that have decorative cladding panels, eg. in modular window systems.

"These tend to be in the form of a glazed opening in the top half of the unit and the lower half is a cladding panel.

"We have assessed these as low risk installations on the basis that they are not cladding the whole wall, and the buildings are not occupied by people sleeping. We are liaising with the Fire and Rescue Service in respect of these buildings."

He said the government's advice was fast moving but the latest advice was that some Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems may not provide sufficient fire resistance, and the fire service should be notified if a building had this type of cladding.

Cllr Bramer said: "We are aware of one block of flats outside the ownership of the council, which is below 18m in the city of Hereford that has a form of ACM cladding. Investigations are continuing to identify any risks associated with this property."

He said although the council does not own any social housing, they are having an ongoing dialogue with the major social landlords operating in Hereford, including Herefordshire Housing.

Cllr Bramer said they have all confirmed that they do not have any high risk properties, ie. residential units above 18m, and they have some properties that have been clad, but using a different technique- external wall insulation (EWI). This involves a layer of insulating material being fixed to the external walls with no gap, which is then covered with a coat of render.

He said EWI cladding has been used on part of the refurbishment of Blueschool House. The plan is to provide some other external cladding using a form of cladding which complies with current building regulations, but he said the council is awaiting confirmation that this material is fire resistant.

Risk assessments are also being carried out in relation to council buildings including schools; these are low rise buildings with more than one fire exit.

Cllr Bramer added: "Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, but I am assured that we are taking all steps necessary to identify risks and, if appropriate, take mitigating action."