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London council admits it must ‘do more’ as calls come for self-referral to regulator
An under-fire London council has admitted it needs to “do more” to tackle residents’ concerns after an opposition party said it should refer itself to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).
Labour-controlled Southwark Council has defended itself after the Liberal Democrats last week accused the administration of a “very serious lack of transparency and accountability” over work to improve homes.
The council has already faced questions over the performance of its housing department in the wake of severe maladministration judgements from the Housing Ombudsman in the past year.
Council staff have also reportedly been suspended amid an over-budget refurbishment project on a block in Bermondsey.
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The Liberal Democrats have launched a fresh attack after the group pointed to new figures it has obtained from the council.
The figures, according to the Liberal Democrats, showed that since the council’s ‘Quality Homes Investment Programme’ started, 1,658 so-called stage one complaints have been received from residents.
One in four projects have overrun by more than 100 days and the same proportion have overspent, with half of those being overspends of more than £100,000, according to the Liberal Democrats’ analysis of the figures.
Victor Chamberlain, leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrat Group, said: “There is a very serious lack of transparency and accountability from the administration on the major works scandal.”
He added: “Residents have been left frustrated and don’t trust Southwark Council. We need those responsible for this fiasco to hold themselves accountable.”
Sarah King, cabinet member for council homes at Southwark Council, said: “The reality is that, with recent sky-high inflation and increased interest rates, the cost of important unfunded fire safety improvements required after Grenfell and government restrictions on rent increases, council budgets are stretched far too thin.”
She added: “We fully accept we need to do more to address residents’ concerns, and we are doing everything in our power to make improvements, but we are also calling on the government to fix the broken financial model that prevents us from offering the gold standard housing service our residents deserve.”
Inside Housing understands that the council has a “routine meeting” with the the English regulator scheduled next week.
A new strategic director of housing joined Southwark Council this month. Hakeem Osinaike has taken up the role, having spent nearly seven years as director of housing at Brent Council.
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