To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.
Minutes:
There were two items of urgent business; the Revocation of Section 114 Notice (minute no. 47/21) and Regina Road, South Norwood (minutes below).
The Shadow Cabinet Member for Homes & Gateway Services (Councillor Lynne Hale) requested that an item of urgent business be considered by Cabinet in relation to the ITV News report being broadcast that evening regarding the council flats on Regina Road, South Norwood. The Shadow Cabinet Member stated the news report included shocking evidence of awful living conditions residents, including young children, have lived in during the national lockdown. It was highlighted that residents had made regular calls since 2019 and reported the damage from the leak to the council and that the situation had deteriorated significantly since December 2020.
The Shadow Cabinet Member stated that the pictures evidenced the most appalling conditions; including rooms being unusable due to the risk of electrocution. In addition, floors and furnishing had been ruined due to being saturated with excess water in the property. It was stressed that it was wholly unacceptable that families should be left to live in such conditions in the borough and concerns were raised that the damage caused by the long term ingress of water suggested negligence on part of the landlord.
Concerns were further raised that the former Cabinet Member for Homes & Gateway Services had also been a ward councillor for South Norwood until the previous week. To this end, the Shadow Cabinet Member called for a meaningful apology to the residents and a commitment to remedy the situation as a matter of urgency.
In response, the Leader of the Council (Councillor Hamida Ali) stated that when the situation was first brought to her attention she was equally shocked at the conditions residents were living in and called for an immediate investigation to be undertaken to understand how the situation had arisen. Members were informed that the council had responded to approaches from the media, had moved residents from the flats and that immediate repairs were being undertaken with damaged furniture also being replaced. The Leader stressed that everyone was appalled by the conditions experienced and the council was doing everything it could to address and fix the situation and was seeking assurance that no other residents were living in similarly appalling conditions.
The Cabinet Member for Homes (Councillor Patricia Hay-Justice) added that the living conditions of the residents was totally unacceptable and apologised that the situation had occurred. It was confirmed that the residents had been relocated, that the damage was being addressed and that a full investigation was warranted to understand what had gone wrong and to ensure it did not reoccur. However, it was highlighted by the Cabinet Member that the experiences were not typical of the responses received from thousands of council tenants over a number of years.
Assurances were provided by the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Learning (Councillor Alisa Flemming) that contact had been made to ensure the affected young people had the support they required, particularly in relation to schooling.