Agenda item

To receive an update on the Council’s response to the housing conditions at Regina Road and the terms of reference for the subsequent investigation.

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee was provided with an overview of the support provided to the tenants at 1-87 Regina Road, following national media coverage on the living conditions at two of the flats within the block. A copy of the presentation delivered at the meeting can be found on the Council’s website at the following link: -

https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=166&MId=2158&Ver=4

The overview was delivered to the Committee by the Interim Executive Director for Place, Sarah Hayward. In addition to the information provided in the slides that can be found on the above link, the following information was also noted:-

·         The poor living conditions found in the two flats at 1-87 Regina Road was first reported in the media eight days ago. The Council only became aware of the severity of the situation in flats 7 and 15 shortly before the weekend, just prior to the news reports. Once the Council became aware, the Tenancy team acted quickly to move the tenants out of the affected properties. The tenant in flat 7 had been rehomed and the tenants in flats 15 and 31 were being supported to find alternative accommodation, while repairs were made

·         Assurance was given that the water leak, which caused the damage, had been located and stopped, with remedial action underway. Further leaks had subsequently been identified within the block, with other tenants in the process of being decanted to enable repair work to be undertaken. The Council had sixteen other blocks of a similar design, which were also being investigated as a result of the issues at 1 – 87 Regina Road.

·         The Council had made a self-referral to the housing regulator and the Health & Safety Executive, as a result of the situation at Regina Road. The Ark Collective had been commissioned to carry out an independent investigation, which had already started. The investigator was on site today (30 March 2021) and a verbal report was expected by Wednesday, 7 April, before the full written report was provided on Friday, 9 April. The findings of this investigation would inform a wider improvement plan that would address the issues identified within the Council’s housing services.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Hamida Ali, attended the meeting, advising the Committee that their feedback on the information provided was sought and confirmed that a further report presenting the findings from the investigation would also be brought to scrutiny for its input. It was highlighted that the position of the Administration, which had previously been outlined at the Council meeting on 29 March, was focussed on addressing the damage and looking after the tenants. There was a need to understand where there had been failures in the system, which had led to residents’ concerns not being addressed. The independent investigation was the start of the work needed to identify these failings. The issues experienced by the tenants at 1 – 87 Regina Road fed into wider cultural concerns of the Administration about how the Council interacted with its tenants, with it emphasised that the Council should be aiming to care for its residents as if they were family members.

The Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Patricia Hay-Justice, echoed the comments of the Leader, highlighting that it was essential that the Council learnt from its failings that had contributed to conditions found at 1 – 87 Regina Road, to ensure that no other residents experienced a similar situation again.

Following these introductions, the Committee was given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments on the information provided. The Chair of Committee highlighted a report from Shelter Housing Commission, which emphasised the need for social landlords to listen to the voice of their tenants. As such, it was suggested that the improvement journey for the Housing service, needed to prioritise improving engagement with tenants throughout the delivery of services.

It was questioned whether the structure for housing services, which was split over three separate directorates, was fit for purpose and whether this had been a contributory factor? The Chief Executive advised that previous feedback received from staff as part of the Croydon Renewal Plan had already indicated that the current structure was not fit for purpose and a service redesign had been planned. In light of the issues raised by Regina Road, the Leader had asked for the work on redesigning the service to be prioritised and expanded to include areas such as contract management and tenant support.  The initial phase of this redesign was underway, with possible options being scoped by officers.

The Committee identified that dedicated communication support was needed to respond to the issues arising from Regina Road. It was agreed that communications support would be reviewed. It was confirmed that to date the communications response to Regina Road had included press statements, media interviews, direct communication with tenants in the flats affected and visits to the properties.

In response to a question about the source of the water leak, it was confirmed that it had been caused by the mains pipe degrading over time. This was the reason why other council blocks built to the same design were being reviewed to assess whether these buildings had any similar issues.

The Committee agreed it was essential that the outcomes from the investigation included an assessment of the Council’s current processes for reporting repairs, with it questioned whether the full report would be publicly available. It was advised that the Council would look to publish as much of the report as possible, but would need to be mindful of any contractual constraints with the provider of the repairs contract.

Councillor Clive Fraser, a ward councillor for area where the flats were located, raised concern about the water leakages not being resolved when the flat above the affected properties had been vacated. A request was made for ward councillors to continue to be involved in the response going forward, with the Committee supportive of the need to keep ward councillors informed of progress made. Councillor Patsy Cummings, the other councillor for the ward, advised that a potential learning point should be the need to provide a more thorough response when reports of leaks causing water damage were received, given the potential risk of much more extensive damage if left unaddressed.

It was questioned whether the Council’s insurance liabilities would be review as part of the investigation. It was confirmed that insurance liability had not been included in the scope of the work provided to the investigator. However, it may be something that could be picked up in any further work arising from the review. It was advised that it was unlikely any report by either the regulator or the Health & Safety Executive would be available for the investigator to factor into the investigation given the timescales for delivery of the review. The investigation would be reviewing the contact history of the two cases to find out whether there had been any discrimination.

Looking forward to the possible improvement work for the Housing service it was agreed that the following areas needed to be addressed: -

1. How damp and condensation issues were managed in Council properties.
2. Whether invasive work into the fabric of the building had contributed to the issues experienced at 1-87 Regina Road, and it this was the case, how it could be avoided in the future.
3. There needed to be a full review of the process used for tenants reporting issues.
4. The relationship between tenants and leaseholders needed to be reviewed to ensure that repairs were carried out promptly, to prevent further damage to other properties in the block. 
5. The repairs contract needed to be comprehensively reviewed to establish the best option for the Council.
6. Further consideration was needed on how the Council listened to its tenants to shape services and whether the culture of the Council needed to change.
7. Consideration also needed to be given to how potential safeguarding and health and safety issues for tenants were responded to.

In response, the Leader of the Council confirmed that the issues raised by housing conditions at Regina Road had created enormous concern, with the relationship with residents in need of repair. It was likely that recommendations arising from the investigation would be used to inform the long term improvement journey for the service. The Cabinet Member highlighted that there would be a role for scrutiny to inform the improvement journey as it progressed.

At the end of the discussion on this item the Chair thanked the Members and Officers for providing an urgent update for the Committee and noted that the outcome from the investigation was likely to be considered at the next meeting of the Streets, Environment & Homes Sub-Committee. 

Conclusions

Following the discussion of the information provided, the Scrutiny and Overview Committee agreed that the following conclusions would be reported to Cabinet:-

1. The Committee broadly accepted the terms of the reference for the independent investigation into the housing disrepair found at 1-87 Regina Road, which was due to report its findings back to the Council by 9 April.
2. The Committee welcomed confirmation that a review of housing services had been brought forward considering the issues experienced by tenants at Regina Road and agreed that there were a number of key areas that needed to be looked at as part of this review.
3. The Committee had concerns about the performance of the current contractor for the repairs service that needed to be investigated to establish whether either value for money or the required service standards were being achieved.

Recommendations

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee agreed to make the following recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Homes for further consideration:-

1. The Committee asks that as part of the review of the Council’s housing services, consideration is given to the following areas: -

·           Prior to starting the review, the Council’s long term vision for its housing services needed to be defined and then used as a basis for the review.

·           The review needed to consider how the Council listened to the voice of its tenants, both in terms of responding to issues raised and in designing services.

·           The process for tenants reporting issues and how they are subsequently dealt with needed to be comprehensively overhauled to ensure the needs of tenants are prioritised in any future delivery model.   

2. The Committee recommends that delivery of the repairs service should be reviewed, when possible to do so under the terms of the current contract, to establish the most cost effective means of providing the service that also met the standards expected by tenants.