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Council reforming housing services following ‘serious’ failures

A council in the West Midlands is set to overhaul its housing services following serious failures on contract compliance and maintenance.

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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Redditch Borough Council’s cabinet will today [Tuesday] be presented with an officer’s report outlining how “a disregard for compliance with the legal frameworks and council policies appears to have been endemic in the service”.

Eight council officers, including senior managers, were suspended by the council in 2017 after an internal investigation found “serious failures in compliance with contracts, contract management and procurement processes”.

No criminal activity was identified, but the officer’s report notes that “there was very poor contract management by officers at all levels within the Housing Capital Team, with little or no pre-scheduling or post-inspection review of contractor performance”.


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It adds that there has been “inadequate financial management, both budgeting and controls and poor coordination across and within services”.

The council’s Housing Revenue Account, which includes a stock of around 5,800 homes, made a £953,000 deficit against its budget in 2017/18.

The report also refers to “[p]oor quality of work, in both routine maintenance and major works”, as well as “poor record keeping” and “a disregard for tenants and quality of service delivery”.

Redditch Borough Council referred itself to the social housing regulator in December 2017 after finding that a large number of its homes did not have up-to-date gas safety certificates.

Control of the authority passed to the Conservatives at the elections in May, with Labour previously in charge.

Craig Warhurst, housing services portfolio holder at Redditch Borough Council, said: “Since taking over the housing portfolio in May and after change in control of council, it became clear that the whole process had been extremely complicated, difficult, lengthy and with elements of uncertainty – as reflected in the huge report.

“However, we are now in a position to move onwards and upwards to deliver the best service for our tenants and communities.”

The council’s new two-year action plan includes reviews of its revenue spending, staffing, voids and maintenance programme, as well as a new performance monitoring system.

Sue Hanley, deputy chief executive of Bromsgrove and Redditch Councils, will oversee the project.

She said: “Transparency is vital to rebuild trust with our tenants and communities and we have detailed everything we know that has been unacceptable and which needs to improve.

“While it has been an immensely difficult process for everyone involved in rebuilding the service, we can now move forward to a much more positive future.”

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