SOUTH KESTEVEN District Council (SKDC) has ‘escaped’ legal action from the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) after ‘failing fire and electrical safety’ regulatory requirements in its homes.
In November last year, the RSH found SKDC had ‘not been meeting the necessary standards’ for fire safety, electrical safety and asbestos in its properties. The RSH report into the council found that it had ‘been failing to follow’ fire safety regulations on council houses it provides ‘for thousands of people’. This, the report added, mean it had ‘not been meeting the necessary standards it sets out’ for electrical, fire safety and asbestos checks.
The RSH outlined a number of ‘key areas’ in which the council failed in both safety processes and recordkeeping for its homes, including that fire risk assessments that should have been undertaken annually had ‘not been completed since 2017, while fire alarm testing had not been carried out in sheltered accommodation or buildings with communal areas.
In turn, fire extinguishers and emergency lighting ‘had not been checked recently enough’, while electrical testing had ‘not been carried out’ in 2020, adding ‘to the potential risk of fires breaking out’. With 6,000 homes owned by the council, it sent letters to residents about a housing audit it undertook as a result of the RSH report, which invites ‘those who are worried about the safety of their own home’ to get in touch.
Council chief executive Karen Bradford wrote in the letter: ‘As a local authority and social housing landlord, our immediate priority is and always will be our tenants. Therefore, we commissioned an independent audit and are taking direct action to address the areas highlighted in the report. I am sorry that in some areas, we have fallen below the standards expected of us and I would like to reassure our tenants that we are working hard to put things right. Throughout this process, we will continue working closely with the [RSH].’
In response to the report and audit, councillor Phil Dilks said at the time: ‘I’m not saying we could have had another Grenfell Tower situation on our hands, but the council has been failing residents on key issues such as fire safety. If I was renting out a property and didn’t meet the fire regulations or get a certificate for the boiler then I would expect to be sued by the tenant and prosecuted by the council. We have the situation where the council itself hasn’t carried out these sorts of checks.’
Stamford Mercury has now reported that SKDC has ‘escaped legal action’ from the RSH, which said it would not prosecute the council because it had ‘taken action already’ to sort out its ‘failing safety record’. The independent investigation had found it had breached part 1.2 of the Home Standard, but the RSH found the council ‘was already fixing this’ and had ‘self-referred’ its housing service to the RSH in response to findings of an in depth audit commissioned by the council leader.
The leader, Kelham Cooke, was joined by Ms Bradford and cabinet member for housing and planning Robert Reid in commissioning the audit, and Ms Bradford commented: ‘My focus is delivering a housing service that our tenants can be proud of and I am sorry that, in the past, our service has fallen short of the high standard they deserve.
‘It is, of course, disappointing that the council has received a regulatory notice although it is encouraging that the regulator outlines the action that we are already taking to improve our service. Going forward, we will continue working closely with the regulator and ensuring that our tenants are updated and supported throughout.’
Mr Reid added: ‘Commissioning the audit was an important step in turning around our housing service for our tenants, whose wellbeing and safety is our fundamental priority. The findings identified numerous weaknesses in our systems and processes and the council has been working extremely hard to address these areas.
‘Over the last few months, the council has put in place many measures as part of its housing action plan. These include providing a dedicated team to respond to queries, implementing new systems and processes to ensure repairs and inspections are managed more effectively, commissioning a comprehensive survey of its housing stock, and ensuring that it has the right team in place to manage the housing service.’
The council’s housing service will be led by new director of housing and property Andrew Cotton, with Mr Cooke stating: ‘Excellent progress has been made so far but there is much more that the council will be doing to drive up standards. The appointment of Andrew Cotton, who has exceptional experience in leading high-performing housing teams, is a key step in delivering a housing service that we will all be proud of.’