Council's firm admits fire safety failings

A council's controversial property company was responsible for its town hall headquarters where serious fire safety issues developed, the council has admitted.

Doors stayed locked and evacuation chairs were found to be unusable during a recent fire drill at Maidenhead Town Hall, a meeting was told this month.

Daniel Houston, health and safety adviser at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM), said a drill had not taken place "for some time" before that.

He added evacuation chairs for disabled people had not been serviced since 2011, one was out of order and no-one was trained to use them.

A council spokesperson confirmed the safety of the town hall was managed by its property services department "which has recently been brought back in house".

The spokesperson said fire drills take place every year and the previous one had been in 2024.

They did not answer questions about how much the council paid RBWM Property Company (PropCo) to manage the town hall.

The spokesperson added: "Although the building was evacuated safely, the exercise identified a number of issues, some of which have developed since the previous drill – and these will now be addressed through an action plan."

RBWM's wholly-owned private firm PropCo was set in 2011 to provide affordable homes and housing for key workers.

It was shut down earlier this year following a "politely damning" report.

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