Agenda item

To receive a briefing from the relevant cabinet member and council officers in response to concerns raised by residents and local ward councillors in connection with the delivery of the Devon Mansions major works.

 

The committee will also hear from residents and local ward councillors.

 

Residents have raised concerns around cost, evidence provided for payments, overspend, quality of the major works, communication and consultation, health and safety, and overall project delivery of the major works.  Local ward councillors support the residents’ concerns, and request scrutiny of the matters raised.

The committee heard from local ward councillors Sam Dalton and Emily Hickson, Ina Negoita, local resident, and council officers in relation to major works undertaken at Devon Mansions.

 

Councillor Hickson addressed the committee on what she believed to be serious failings in respect of the major works and communication with residents whilst the works were going on.  Councillor Hickson informed the committee that she and Councillor Dalton had been regularly attending the major works meetings with residents and council officers.  She indicated that whilst some answers had been provided to residents, some issues had still not been answered or not answered in a timely manner – this had added to the distress of residents.  Councillor Hickson informed the committee that these failures had led the organisation appointed by the council to run the major works meetings (Open Communities) to relinquish their duties earlier that year as they felt that not enough progress had been made and that the meetings were no longer serving a purpose.

 

Councillor Hickson highlighted the major failures requiring investigation as being:

 

·  Cost of the works (increase from £5.9m to over £10m)

·  Poor quality of the works

·  Communication with residents

·  Staff performance

 

Councillor Hickson also highlighted a number of issues residents wanted to raise which included:

 

·  Scrutiny of cost and what money had already been paid by the council, and scrutiny of sign-off of the works ahead of payments

·  Damage to the basements, brickwork, and residents properties

·  Unrepaired windows

·  Health and safety concerns

·  A physical assault, which had been reported to the police.

 

The committee then heard from Councillor Sam Dalton.  Councillor Dalton relayed that throughout the works, residents had felt in the dark about how much work was actually being done while the scaffolding was up and when the work would end.

 

Councillor Dalton addressed the committee on the issue of poor communication with residents, tracking of residents questions and slow response, the issuing of work log information (for purposes of transparency) for work that had been carried out while the scaffolding had been in place. 

 

Councillor Dalton also raised the issue of council performance throughout the major works and called for a review, to raise standards going forward.  In concluding, Councillor Dalton stressed that greater transparency and accountability needed to be secured for residents, and highlighted actions and requests that had been previously made or ought to be made towards delivering this – such as:

 

·  The provision of work logs

·  The appointment of an independent surveyor to examine the works which have been done

·  Review of major works staffing, delivery (including communication)

·  External audit of council performance on this specific project

·  Appropriate compensation to residents in line with what comes out of these reviews.

 

The committee then heard from Ms Ina Negoita, resident of Devon Mansions.  Ms Negoita had submitted a document (evidence submission) containing various pieces of information relating to the Devon Mansion works to the clerk of the overview and scrutiny committee.  The document was circulated to members of the committee in advance of the meeting.

 

Ms Negoita informed the committee that she was a leaseholder, but was representing all the residents (both tenants and leaseholders) of Devon Mansions as the works had impacted them all.

 

Ms Negoita reported to the committee that the major works was delivered over three years, but that the failures had started to occur from the first day.  Mr Negoita provided the committee with a presentation and highlighted the following:

 

·  The project increase from £5.6m to £9.8m

·  Unprecedented hardship for residents

·  £4.2m overspend

·  2 year delay, scaffolding on site for 3 years

·  Increase of contractor and consultant fees

·  Adjustments not made for residents who needed special adjustments

·  Physical assault and damage to property

·  Monthly evidence submissions from residents ignored by the Council

·  Needs, cost and reasonableness of the major works – questionable feasibility report

·  Quotations for works that did not exist

·  Incorrect sizing of the physical estate, and the impact this had on cost calculations

·  Disadvantages in the way payments for the works were calculated and rewarded (percentage fee of the value of the works) - no incentive for value for money

·  Work men smoking on scaffolding, and the discarding of used cigarettes

·  Scaffolding not protected, leading to graffiti and other anti-social behaviour on the building

·  Lack of protective equipment for the workers (absence of hard hats, gloves and harnesses)

·  Lack of cleaning equipment to the ratio of cleaners

·  Problems with dead vermin, subsequent smell and build-up of dirt

·  Calculations for building cleaning charges (multiple charging for same work)

·  Lack of management by the council for the works

·  Damage to the building by contractors remedied as extra works

·  Multiple raising and taking down of scaffolding

·  The opportunity to pause payment in November 2022

 

Ms Negoita requested that an investigation be undertaken.

 

The committee then heard from Councillor Darren Merrill, Cabinet Member for Council Homes, and council officers David Quirke-Thornton, Strategic Director, Dave Hodgson, Director of Asset Management, and Desmond Vincent, Assistant Director of Building Safety and Major Works.

 

Councillor Merrill thanked the residents for the work they had done to bring this matter to light and apologised to residents for the matter reaching this point. Councillor Merrill reported that investigations had been taking place to get a better understanding of what had happened, and acknowledged that things had gone wrong.  He indicated that he had given a clear political steer to officers to get to the truth.

 

David Quirke-Thornton, Strategic Director apologised unreservedly to residents for the failings highlighted.  He informed the committee that he had been looking into the matter with the Strategic Director of Finance, and with the Human Resources department, and reported that disciplinary investigations had commenced.  Further investigations would continue.

 

David reported that the council’s internal auditor, BDO had been commissioned to look at the case, and that the council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton would be looking at the case also.  The audits would cover the full range of concerns raised on the finances, and all aspects of the governance around that.  David also reported that there would be a quantity surveyor review, and that he would be seeking to withhold and / or recover costs from contractors.  The council would also be pursuing fraud investigations. 

 

David stressed that the investigations would take a bit of time to work through, and that both the overview and scrutiny committee, and the audit governance and standards committee will see the outcomes of that work.  He also stressed that the council was committed to remedying and resolving the failings, and ensuring that it did not add costs for leaseholders or residents.

 

Following the strategic director’s address, the chair opened up the meeting to questions and discussion.  Questions and discussion took place around the following:

 

·  Actions resulting from disciplinary and fraud investigations

·  Failure of governance within the housing department

·  Compensation for residents for financial loss and direct damages to their properties

·  The incentive structure for contracting, and the procurement process

·  Process for keeping residents informed in respect of the investigations

·  Clauses in place to challenge contractors

·  Major works framework and partnering contracts

·  Raising of invoices and approval of payments process – oversight of payments

·  Timelines for the separate strands of the investigations

·  Absence of council defence for the failings

·  Timeframe for residents to see material improvement

·  Process for evidencing consultation/engagement with, and feedback from residents prior to issuing contracts

·  Strengthening political oversight

·  Value for money

·  The gateway procurement approval process

 

It was requested by the Chair that all councillors be updated on the changes the strategic director had already implemented and for councillors to be kept informed on an ongoing basis with the actions taken.  It was stressed that it was important for the public to see clearly what the council was doing to rectify this situation.