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Council leader faces vote of no confidence following regulator’s investigation

Opposition councillors at Welwyn Hatfield Council have launched a vote of no confidence against the leader after the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) found the local authority had breached the Home Standard.

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Councillors from Labour and the Liberal Democrats have accused the Conservative-led council of “mismanagement of its duties” after an RSH judgement highlighted a series of compliance failings.

Welwyn Hatfield Council was found to be in breach of the English regulator’s Home Standard in a ruling published last month, for a series of issues such as failing to provide fire risk assessments (FRAs) for up to 90% of its buildings.

The council self-referred to the regulator, which found the local authority had “failed to meet statutory health and safety requirements in relation to fire, water, electrical and asbestos safety”.

The RSH found that “thousands” of FRA actions identified in 2018 had not been completed and said “around half of which had been given the highest risk rating and needed to be done immediately, or as soon as reasonably practical”.

In addition, it found that hundreds of Welwyn Hatfield Council’s buildings had never received an electrical inspection, while a smaller number were inspected over 10 years ago.


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In response to this, councillors from the opposition parties have now joined forces to “reluctantly express no confidence in the leader of the council who holds ultimate responsibility for its actions and failings”.

In a joint statement, the councillors said that for many years, issues of housing maintenance, poor service and unresolved complaints have been raised but not been remedied.

They said: “The shocking revelations that serious safety checks, including fire and electrical tests, had not been done and, worse, that it had been covered up is no more awful than the reality that… while all the concerns and calls for action were made by councillors and residents, Conservative councillors simply looked the other way.

“The public deserve answers on how this could happen, how anyone can be sure similar failings aren’t being hidden elsewhere, and how they can be assured this will never happen again.

“Until these questions receive answers, it is impossible to have confidence in the leadership and direction of this Conservative council and the services it is failing to provide.”

In response to the statement, Tony Kingsbury, leader of Welwyn Hatfield Council, rejected the claims that he had kept housing compliance hidden from the public and said he believed he should not resign as a result.

“I am confident I have directed the council to act directly and with transparency, and I will now explain why.

“As soon as I was made aware of the situation, the council then referred itself to the Regulator for Social Housing. I directed council staff to write to every single council tenant and leaseholder in Welwyn Hatfield – whether they were affected by the issue or not – to explain what had happened and to reassure that the checks not carried out would be dealt with very soon.

“Under my direction we issued a public apology to tenants and leaseholders for not meeting all of our responsibilities under the Home Standard. I did this all in the name of ensuring the council was acting with transparency.

“Additionally, I made a point of keeping the leaders of the Lib Dem and Labour groups in the loop throughout. Therefore, it is disappointing, but predictable, that they now suggest I somehow kept them in the dark. I have seen no motion, but their comment, which implies there has been a ‘culture of secrecy’ on this subject, is a clear attempt to twist the situation into a political opportunity.”

He added that the council is now working closely with the RSH and conducting an internal review, and hopes it would be compliant in most areas by the end of September.

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