PARENTS are being sent letters this week to reassure them on school safety in the wake of fire alarm reports exposed by the Post.

Leaked internal council reports found 812 faults in 33 public buildings, the majority of them schools, prompting an emergency motion last week by councillors demanding action.

West Dunbartonshire Council explained to councillors and in the letter to parents how new British Standards for fire alarms were introduced in August 2017 and their buildings were not up to the new higher requirements.

They said action has been underway since December to address the points raised in the reports.

The letter to parents states: “Where a recommendation has been made to replace the alarms this will be completed as part of the new contract. Any other priority issues identified have been addressed and minor issues highlighted are in the process of being rectified.

“The fire alarm system in our school is fully operational, regularly maintained and tested every week, as is the case with systems in every council building.

“The school is subject to regular fire and electrical inspections as well as to independent fire risk assessments by the corporate health and safety team. The building complies with the Fire Scotland Act 2005 and is audited by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.”

Although the letters are signed by the head teachers of the schools, the Post understands from our whistleblower who leaked the reports that head teachers were never shown the failures in their buildings.

The council briefing states external alarm and fire system maintenance firm FES Support Services Ltd were contracted in March 2017 to survey 142 council buildings.

Meanwhile, staff at the council have added their concerns to those of councillors, MSPs and West Dunbartonshire’s MP who all sought answers after we exposed the leaked reports.

Val Jennings, Unison branch convener, said: “Unison are deeply concerned about these breaches in health and safety fire regulations. Unfortunately this is the case throughout the council with all aspects of health and safety.

“We would urge regulators Health and Safety Executive and fire and rescue to carry out thorough inspections but clearly this is not the case so far and serious breaches are being overlooked. This requires a full investigation of the role of regulatory services. In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower where health and safety legislation was ignored to save a couple of pounds, resulting in the loss of life, this is unacceptable.

“The council are responsible for employees’ health, safety and wellbeing and we would refer to the responses from council where safety to staff was not mentioned and is not taken seriously. Unison believes everyone should be able to work without suffering harm to their health and safety.”