Agenda item

Notice of Motion Regarding "No more excuses on housing repairs" - Given By Councillor Richard Shaw and to be Seconded by Councillor Sophie Thornton

That this Council:-

 

(a)     notes with great sadness the death of Awaab Ishak in Rochdale, which was found by the Coroner for Manchester North to be a result of prolonged exposure to mould in his home which Rochdale Boroughwide Housing took no action to treat or prevent;

 

(b)     notes with concern that:-

 

(1)    the Council currently has 6,193 overdue repairs logged, as of the 23rd of October;

 

(2)    a significant number of the 6,193 overdue repairs are likely to relate to damp and mould, especially within the context of the Cost-of-Living crisis which has made it more challenging for tenants to heat their homes;

 

(3)    several Councillors have reported that tenants suffering from damp and mould issues have felt blamed for the disrepair, rather than supported to manage the issues;

 

(4)    customer complaints regarding the Repairs Service increased from 17 in 2020/21 to 115 in 2021/22;

 

(5)    the Council has received more legal claims for disrepair as of the 18th of November (682) than it received for the whole of the 2021/2022 financial year (660);

 

(6)    cuts to legal aid over the last decade have resulted in tenants finding it significantly more challenging to bring disrepair cases to court, with tenants’ only option often being to use ‘no win, no fee’ solicitors, who have targeted estates with high numbers of disrepair claims and often retain a large proportion of the awarded compensation; and

 

(7)    Council spending on legal fees and compensation for legal disrepair claims is currently overspending by £2.6m on its £2.6m budget, and the Housing Repairs service as a whole is overspending by £7.3m, contributing to the overall HRA overspend of £12.7m;

 

(c)      notes that:-

 

(1)    the Social Housing Regulator has written to Chief Executives of all registered providers of social housing (including Sheffield City Council) requesting an assessment of the extent of damp and mould issues & hazards affecting our properties, what action we are taking to remedy these cases, and our procedures to ensure that individual damp and mould cases are identified and dealt with effectively, to be provided by the 19th of December 2022; and notes that the response to this will be brought to the Housing Policy Committee and published;

 

(2)    the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has similarly written to all Council leaders with a Housing Act 2004 Section 3(3) directive to provide an assessment of damp and mould issues affecting privately rented properties, an assessment of action that may need to be taken concerning this, and data on the above for the last three years, and notes that the response to this will be brought to the Housing Policy Committee and published;

 

(3)    the Housing Ombudsman issued a report in October 2021 (Spotlight on Damp and Mould: It’s Not Lifestyle), which contained several recommendations for member landlords, including to “review our initial response to reports of damp and mould to ensure they avoid automatically apportioning blame or using language that leaves residents feeling blamed”;

 

(4)    believes that workers in the Housing Repairs team are working hard to tackle the backlog, but that political mismanagement has led to the current issues facing the service; and

 

(5)    believes that Council tenants deserve repairs to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, and that fulfilling this requirement is critical to keeping our tenants healthy and safe;

 

This Council therefore resolves to:-

(d)     support Councillor Clement-Jones’s recent call at the Audit and Standards Committee on the 17th of November for an enquiry into the issues raised in paragraph (b);

 

(e)     request that the Housing Policy Committee considers whether to add to its work programme consideration of new approaches to handling disrepair issues, such as:-

 

(1)    appropriate officers providing the Housing Policy Committee with a broad appraisal of council housing disrepair and a strategy for improvement, including how they will implement the recommendations of the Housing Ombudsman’s 2021 report “Spotlight on Damp and Mould”;

 

(2)    creating an Alternative Disrepair Resolution Scheme, to give tenants an alternative to no-win, no-fee solicitors when seeking compensation for housing disrepair, as has been implemented by several other local authorities, including Lambeth and Southwark; and

 

(3)    giving our tenants the right to directly employ an approved contactor if repairs are not carried out within an agreed time frame.

 

 

Minutes:

6.1

It was moved by Councillor Richard Shaw, and seconded by Councillor Sophie Thornton, that this Council:-

 

 

 

(a)      notes with great sadness the death of Awaab Ishak in Rochdale, which was found by the Coroner for Manchester North to be a result of prolonged exposure to mould in his home which Rochdale Boroughwide Housing took no action to treat or prevent;

 

 

 

(b)      notes with concern that:-

 

 

 

(1)      the Council currently has 6,193 overdue repairs logged, as of the 23rd of October;

 

 

 

(2)      a significant number of the 6,193 overdue repairs are likely to relate to damp and mould, especially within the context of the Cost-of-Living crisis which has made it more challenging for tenants to heat their homes;

 

 

 

(3)      several Councillors have reported that tenants suffering from damp and mould issues have felt blamed for the disrepair, rather than supported to manage the issues;

 

 

 

(4)      customer complaints regarding the Repairs Service increased from 17 in 2020/21 to 115 in 2021/22;

 

 

 

(5)      the Council has received more legal claims for disrepair as of the 18th of November (682) than it received for the whole of the 2021/2022 financial year (660);

 

 

 

(6)      cuts to legal aid over the last decade have resulted in tenants finding it significantly more challenging to bring disrepair cases to court, with tenants’ only option often being to use ‘no win, no fee’ solicitors, who have targeted estates with high numbers of disrepair claims and often retain a large proportion of the awarded compensation; and

 

 

 

(7)      Council spending on legal fees and compensation for legal disrepair claims is currently overspending by £2.6m on its £2.6m budget, and the Housing Repairs service as a whole is overspending by £7.3m, contributing to the overall HRA overspend of £12.7m;

 

 

 

(c)      notes that:-

 

 

 

(1)      the Social Housing Regulator has written to Chief Executives of all registered providers of social housing (including Sheffield City Council) requesting an assessment of the extent of damp and mould issues and hazards affecting our properties, what action we are taking to remedy these cases, and our procedures to ensure that individual damp and mould cases are identified and dealt with effectively, to be provided by the 19th of December 2022; and notes that the response to this will be brought to the Housing Policy Committee and published;

 

 

 

(2)      the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has similarly written to all Council leaders with a Housing Act 2004 Section 3(3) directive to provide an assessment of damp and mould issues affecting privately rented properties, an assessment of action that may need to be taken concerning this, and data on the above for the last three years, and notes that the response to this will be brought to the Housing Policy Committee and published;

 

 

 

(3)      the Housing Ombudsman issued a report in October 2021 (Spotlight on Damp and Mould: It’s Not Lifestyle), which contained several recommendations for member landlords, including to “review our initial response to reports of damp and mould to ensure they avoid automatically apportioning blame or using language that leaves residents feeling blamed”;

 

 

 

(4)      believes that workers in the Housing Repairs team are working hard to tackle the backlog, but that political mismanagement has led to the current issues facing the service; and

 

 

 

(5)      believes that Council tenants deserve repairs to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, and that fulfilling this requirement is critical to keeping our tenants healthy and safe;

 

 

 

This Council therefore resolves to:-

 

 

 

(d)      support Councillor Clement-Jones’s recent call at the Audit and Standards Committee on the 17th of November for an enquiry into the issues raised in paragraph (b);

 

 

 

(e)      request that the Housing Policy Committee considers whether to add to its work programme consideration of new approaches to handling disrepair issues, such as:-

 

 

 

(1)      appropriate officers providing the Housing Policy Committee with a broad appraisal of council housing disrepair and a strategy for improvement, including how they will implement the recommendations of the Housing Ombudsman’s 2021 report “Spotlight on Damp and Mould”;

 

 

 

(2)      creating an Alternative Disrepair Resolution Scheme, to give tenants an alternative to no-win, no-fee solicitors when seeking compensation for housing disrepair, as has been implemented by several other local authorities, including Lambeth and Southwark; and

 

 

 

(3)      giving our tenants the right to directly employ an approved contractor if repairs are not carried out within an agreed time frame.

 

 

6.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Fran Belbin, and seconded by Councillor Nabeela Mowlana, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

 

 

 

1.       the addition of the following sub-paragraphs under paragraph (c):-

 

 

 

(6)      since 2010 government has significantly increased pressures on the HRA, through sustained lack of investment for local authorities and the public services which communities rely on;

 

 

 

(7)      from 2010-2018 government put a cap on council borrowing for housebuilding, which significantly added to the pressure of housing waiting lists with the Council unable to build to meet demand, and that national policies such as ‘right-to-buy’ depletes housing stock; meaning less revenue generated for the HRA to better deal with issues related to housing repairs;

 

 

 

(8)      believes it is outrageous that the last Decent Homes Standard was set in 2006 (with five Conservative prime ministers since then) and that the current government must deliver their long-awaited Decent Homes Standard for all social rented and private rented homes; and

 

 

 

(9)      commits to working with all of the city’s MPs in challenging government to bring forward this legislation;

 

 

 

2.       the addition of the following sub-paragraphs under paragraph (e):-

 

 

 

(4)      an external review of Housing Repairs as part of the wider Housing Service review taking place next year, with the goal of fundamentally re-organising how the service is delivered, believing that the Council must do better in learning from other cities who are dealing with comparable problems, and ensure that best practice is being adopted throughout all housing services, including repairs; and

 

 

 

(5)      adopting Selective Licensing schemes throughout the city, noting that issues in private sector housing have a considerable impact on social housing with badly maintained neighbourhoods leading to even greater pressure on council housing repairs, and believing that the city’s neighbourhoods are being let down by rogue private landlords; and

 

 

 

3.       the addition of a new paragraph (f) as follows:-

 

 

 

(f)       affirms that the Council must ultimately provide a service which is geared around the needs of tenants and delivers for all of the city’s neighbourhoods.

 

 

6.3

It was then moved by Councillor Douglas Johnson, seconded by Councillor Martin Phipps, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of paragraphs (d) and (e) and the addition of new paragraphs (d) to (g) as follows:-

 

 

 

(d)      notes that the Housing Policy Committee has been working cross-party to monitor progress on repairs handling and will continue to do so;

 

 

 

(e)      notes in particular that at its meeting on Thursday 15th December, the Committee will receive a report on the Council's actions on damp and mould, annexed to which is a letter to the Government setting out our actions and emphasising the need for government to fund significant action on this serious health risk;

 

 

 

(f)       believes that the political choice of austerity has limited this Council's ability to inspect a significant proportion of private rented properties; and 

 

 

 

(g)      endorses this Council's request to the Government for additional resources to support an expansion of this particularly important agenda.

 

 

6.4

After contributions from seven other Members, and following a right of reply from Councillor Richard Shaw, the amendment moved by Councillor Fran Belbin was put to the vote and was carried.

 

 

6.4.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 65 Members; AGAINST - 1 Member; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.  The Liberal Democrat Group Members voted for, but abstained on sub-paragraphs (6) & (7) of Part 1, and sub-paragraph (5) of Part 2 of the amendment.  Councillor Lewis Chinchen voted against, but for sub-paragraph (9) of Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 of the amendment.)

 

 

6.5

The amendment moved by Councillor Douglas Johnson was then put to the vote and was lost.

 

 

6.5.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 11 Members; AGAINST - 53 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.  Councillor Lewis Chinchen voted for, but against paragraph (f) of the amendment.)

 

 

6.6

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

 

 

 

 

 

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

 

 

 

(a)      notes with great sadness the death of Awaab Ishak in Rochdale, which was found by the Coroner for Manchester North to be a result of prolonged exposure to mould in his home which Rochdale Boroughwide Housing took no action to treat or prevent;

 

 

 

(b)      notes with concern that:-

 

 

 

(1)      the Council currently has 6,193 overdue repairs logged, as of the 23rd of October;

 

 

 

(2)      a significant number of the 6,193 overdue repairs are likely to relate to damp and mould, especially within the context of the Cost-of-Living crisis which has made it more challenging for tenants to heat their homes;

 

 

 

(3)      several Councillors have reported that tenants suffering from damp and mould issues have felt blamed for the disrepair, rather than supported to manage the issues;

 

 

 

(4)      customer complaints regarding the Repairs Service increased from 17 in 2020/21 to 115 in 2021/22;

 

 

 

(5)      the Council has received more legal claims for disrepair as of the 18th of November (682) than it received for the whole of the 2021/2022 financial year (660);

 

 

 

(6)      cuts to legal aid over the last decade have resulted in tenants finding it significantly more challenging to bring disrepair cases to court, with tenants’ only option often being to use ‘no win, no fee’ solicitors, who have targeted estates with high numbers of disrepair claims and often retain a large proportion of the awarded compensation; and

 

 

 

(7)      Council spending on legal fees and compensation for legal disrepair claims is currently overspending by £2.6m on its £2.6m budget, and the Housing Repairs service as a whole is overspending by £7.3m, contributing to the overall HRA overspend of £12.7m;

 

 

 

(c)      notes that:-

 

 

 

(1)      the Social Housing Regulator has written to Chief Executives of all registered providers of social housing (including Sheffield City Council) requesting an assessment of the extent of damp and mould issues and hazards affecting our properties, what action we are taking to remedy these cases, and our procedures to ensure that individual damp and mould cases are identified and dealt with effectively, to be provided by the 19th of December 2022; and notes that the response to this will be brought to the Housing Policy Committee and published;

 

 

 

(2)      the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has similarly written to all Council leaders with a Housing Act 2004 Section 3(3) directive to provide an assessment of damp and mould issues affecting privately rented properties, an assessment of action that may need to be taken concerning this, and data on the above for the last three years, and notes that the response to this will be brought to the Housing Policy Committee and published;

 

 

 

(3)      the Housing Ombudsman issued a report in October 2021 (Spotlight on Damp and Mould: It’s Not Lifestyle), which contained several recommendations for member landlords, including to “review our initial response to reports of damp and mould to ensure they avoid automatically apportioning blame or using language that leaves residents feeling blamed”;

 

 

 

(4)      since 2010 government has significantly increased pressures on the HRA, through sustained lack of investment for local authorities and the public services which communities rely on; and

 

 

 

(5)      from 2010-2018 government put a cap on council borrowing for housebuilding, which significantly added to the pressure of housing waiting lists with the Council unable to build to meet demand, and that national policies such as ‘right-to-buy’ depletes housing stock; meaning less revenue generated for the HRA to better deal with issues related to housing repairs;

 

 

 

(d)      believes that workers in the Housing Repairs team are working hard to tackle the backlog, but that political mismanagement has led to the current issues facing the service;

 

 

 

(e)      believes that Council tenants deserve repairs to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, and that fulfilling this requirement is critical to keeping our tenants healthy and safe;

 

 

 

(f)       believes it is outrageous that the last Decent Homes Standard was set in 2006 (with five Conservative prime ministers since then) and that the current government must deliver their long-awaited Decent Homes Standard for all social rented and private rented homes;

 

 

 

(g)      commits to working with all of the city’s MPs in challenging government to bring forward this legislation;

 

 

 

This Council therefore resolves to:-

 

 

 

(h)      support Councillor Clement-Jones’s recent call at the Audit and Standards Committee on the 17th of November for an enquiry into the issues raised in paragraph (b);

 

 

 

(i)       request that the Housing Policy Committee considers whether to add to its work programme consideration of new approaches to handling disrepair issues, such as:-

 

 

 

(1)      appropriate officers providing the Housing Policy Committee with a broad appraisal of council housing disrepair and a strategy for improvement, including how they will implement the recommendations of the Housing Ombudsman’s 2021 report “Spotlight on Damp and Mould”;

 

 

 

(2)      creating an Alternative Disrepair Resolution Scheme, to give tenants an alternative to no-win, no-fee solicitors when seeking compensation for housing disrepair, as has been implemented by several other local authorities, including Lambeth and Southwark;

 

 

 

(3)      giving our tenants the right to directly employ an approved contractor if repairs are not carried out within an agreed time frame;

 

 

 

(4)      an external review of Housing Repairs as part of the wider Housing Service review taking place next year, with the goal of fundamentally re-organising how the service is delivered, believing that the Council must do better in learning from other cities who are dealing with comparable problems, and ensure that best practice is being adopted throughout all housing services, including repairs; and

 

 

 

(5)      adopting Selective Licensing schemes throughout the city, noting that issues in private sector housing have a considerable impact on social housing with badly maintained neighbourhoods leading to even greater pressure on council housing repairs, and believing that the city’s neighbourhoods are being let down by rogue private landlords; and

 

 

 

(j)       affirms that the Council must ultimately provide a service which is geared around the needs of tenants and delivers for all of the city’s neighbourhoods.

 

 

 

 

6.6.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 65 Members; AGAINST - 0 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.  The Labour Group Members voted for, but against paragraph (d) of the Substantive Motion.  The Liberal Democrat Group Members voted for, but abstained on sub-paragraphs (c)(4) and (5), and sub-paragraph (i)(5) of the Substantive Motion. Councillor Lewis Chinchen voted for, but against sub-paragraphs (c)(4) and (5) and paragraph (f) of the Substantive Motion.)