Warwick Council Safety Audit: Unreported Fire and Fallen Tree

Warwick District Council’s health and safety has been given a “moderate” rating by its own internal auditors, who found a fire at a contractor’s depot that the council was never told about, water safety advice nobody can show was acted on, and a lack of accountability among managers. The report goes to the Audit and Standards Committee at the Town Hall in Leamington on Wednesday 4 November at 6pm.

Moderate is the middle of three ratings. It means the system is broadly satisfactory, but some controls are weak or missing and several aren’t being followed.

The fire nobody reported

The council’s health and safety manager visited the Idverde depot in Warwick, which the council owns and the contractor runs, and found there had been a fire that took 48 hours to put out. Idverde hadn’t told its contract manager or anyone else at the council. The auditors say the council would probably never have known otherwise, and ask whether other incidents go unreported. The report gives no date or cause, and doesn’t include a response from Idverde.

The falling tree

As the audit was finishing, a large tree on council land fell, injuring three people, one of whom went to hospital. An insurance claim is expected. The auditors say it “does raise concerns” about other council trees.

The report doesn’t name the place. The details match the tree that came down on a bowling green in Leamington’s Victoria Park during a para bowls competition on Sunday 21 June, reported by the BBC. At the time the council said its yearly inspections cover all trees in its parks and gardens. It told the auditors that county forestry inspections set its tree work programme.

The other findings

• Water safety: the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) reviewed water safety hazards for the council in 2011 and 2021, but no records show whether its recommendations were considered or carried out. A new report is being commissioned and a water policy written.
• Accountability: the auditors found “cultural issues”, with managers not always taking ownership. The team looking after the council’s non-housing property had 22 actions outstanding, two not started, with staff often pulled onto council housing work.
• Paperwork: twelve safety documents had missed their review dates, most by several years, though the guidance is still largely relevant.

What’s working

Incident reporting is sound, overdue risk assessments have fallen substantially, and a new health and safety team is tackling the backlog after staffing problems. Claims were low: 14 in 2025/26, with five passed to contractors and the council accepting responsibility in two of the other nine.

Most of the longer-term actions are due by 31 March 2027. Fire safety in council flats is a separate programme.

Alex Harrington