"How many more apologies will it take?” - Liberal Democrats Slam Labour Council Over £17 million Major Works
- Cabinet Member for Housing and Director once again forced to apologise over Major Works failures
- Leader of the Opposition asks if Council Leadership remains tenable.
- Leaseholders again forced to conduct time-consuming investigations to challenge "blank cheque” to contractors including £28,000 for 10 mobile phones.
- Provisional bill “torn up” - but questions remain about systemic issues
At last night’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee (4th November), council bosses were once again hauled in by its Liberal Democrat members to answer for another Major Works Scandal.
Leaseholders on the Consort Estate had been slapped with bills of up to £50,000 each – but when they scrutinised the detail, found that the scope of the works had expanded past the initial feasibility study, and some items that were being charged far beyond reasonable cost.
According to their presentation, with some simple adjustments the works could be reduced in cost by as much as 43%
One leaseholder spoke powerfully about the human impact of the costs – she explained how she had to “use her mental health first aid training” to support her fellow residents, who were suddenly facing bills they had no idea how to pay, on top of already sky-high service charges.
At the meeting, the Director of Housing thanked the leaseholders for “doing [the council’s] work for them”, in an admission that the council had failed to protect its own pockets and leaseholder’s from poor value charges.
The Labour Cabinet Member for Housing also apologised for “yet another major works project that is not working” - but Liberal Democrat Cllr Victor Chamberlain hit back, asking why, after the string of major works failures seen over the last year, they were still hearing apologies but not actions or accountability.
In addition to the value of the works themselves, leaseholders also highlighted poor communication and financial support – for example lack of clarity around payment plans.
It was also revealed that the section 20 (the legal document that outlines costs to leaseholders) had been “ripped up”, despite the ward Councillor having previously been told that the bills had simply been lowered. This revelation at the meeting was the first that the leaseholders and ward councillors had heard this.
A senior housing officer present at the meeting said that a new estimate would be presented to leaseholders in mid-December.
This however just adds more uncertainty to the leaseholders who simply want to pay a fair price for fair work, not have huge bills hang over them.
A number of recommendations were made by OSC to the Cabinet Member – including a successful suggestion from Cllr Chamberlain to improve transparency by making itemised billing the default, rather than it taking a lengthy request.
The wider scrutiny of major works, including the outcomes of independent reports into the Devon Mansions and Canada Estate scandals, will come back to OSC in January.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition Cllr Victor Chamberlain said:
"How many more apologies will it take until this Labour council gets a grip of its housing department? It is absolutely unacceptable for this to be yet another estate to be forced to conduct its own investigations to challenge costs - these are investigations the council should be doing itself to save both leaseholders and the council's coffers from clear overcharging and scope creep. We need far more transparency, which is why we're calling for fully itemised bills as a start.
We also desperately need to see accountability. This Labour administration is going from one housing scandal to the next and leaving it to officers to mop up. It’s the Council’s Labour leadership that accountable and they need to urgently consider if their positions remain tenable. It’s time we saw real political leadership and got a grip on our failed housing department."