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London council self-refers to regulator over compliance gaps
Tower Hamlets Council has self-referred to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) after identifying consumer standards compliance gaps.
The gaps are related to the Safety and Quality Standard and cover fire risk actions, data management, asset management, repairs service and handling of damp, mould and condensation.
They also relate to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, concerning complaint-handling and governance framework.
The council conducted a review after it brought its housing management services back under direct control last year.
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At the time, the council said it believed the decision to close its ALMO Tower Hamlets Homes would “provide opportunity to join up services, increase accountability to residents and the RSH, and enable the council to take a strategic approach to delivering good-quality homes”.
The council said that the review “provided a deeper understanding of performance gaps and areas of improvement required to meet residents’ needs, as well as the new consumer standards”.
The compliance gaps cover a mix of council and ALMO responsibilities.
The council said that in the “spirit of co-regulation”, it took the decision to self-refer and has a regulatory assurance action plan in place to show how improvements will be made.
The regulator is currently considering the self-referral.
Several councils have self-referred over concerns with consumer standards compliance since the new regulatory regime launched. This approach has been encouraged by the regulator.
Jonathan Walters, deputy chief executive of the RSH, said it is “much more able to help” and “deal with issues when people come and talk to us”.
The council’s action plan includes making a £140m investment of capital funding to address fire and building safety remedial works.
It said it is implementing improvements across property and resident data, including a new system to manage asset data.
At the time of the audit it had overdue fire risk assessments, but said it is now 100% compliant across its homes.
It is appointing staff to lead improvements in the management of its council homes, fire safety and complaints.
Stephen Halsey, chief executive of Tower Hamlets Council, said: “Every person living in Tower Hamlets deserves to have a warm, safe and well-maintained home. It is our job to provide the highest quality service we can.
“By working in partnership and collaboratively with the regulator it is our ambition to ensure that is the case at the earliest opportunity.”
A report to Tower Hamlets’ cabinet next week will recommend setting up a housing cabinet sub-committee to strengthen governance and ensure improvements are delivered on time.
Southwark Council self-referred to the regulator in June over thousands of overdue electrical safety checks.
Lewisham Council self-referred in December last year over compliance concerns around decent homes, its repairs service, and fire safety actions.
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