Agenda item

To receive a report from the strategic director of housing in relation to the decision to self-refer to the Regulator for Social Housing regarding the status of the Council’s domestic electrical inspection condition reports (DEICRs) following a request from a number of councillors for the matter to be scrutinised by the overview and scrutiny committee.

The committee received a report from the strategic director of housing on the decision to self-refer to the regulator for social housing regarding the status of the council’s domestic electrical inspection condition reports.

The committee heard from Councillor Sarah King, Cabinet Member for Council Homes, Hakeem Osinaike, Strategic Director of Housing and Stuart Davis, Managing Director of Southwark Construction.

Councillor Sarah King welcomed the item being on the agenda as it provided a good opportunity for further scrutiny on what led to the decision to self-refer, the programme of work that had been put in place to ensure that the council reached compliance, and the lessons that needed to be learned going forward. 

Councillor King explained that on joining the council, the strategic director of housing had undertaken a full review of the housing department and the services it provided. Once the strategic director reported on compliance findings an immediate decision was taken to self- refer. The decision to self-refer was accompanied with a comprehensive communications plan, recognising that a decision of this type was likely to cause concern for many residents.

Councillor King signalled that further consideration would be given to electrical safety in leasehold properties, and that the council would be prioritising this and looking at how the council communicates and supports leaseholders in arranging their own electrical safety checks to ensure that whole estates were safe.

The committee then heard from Hakeem Osinaike who explained that having found that the council had not been doing electrical safety checks in all council properties, a decision was taken to do a self-referral to the regulator for social housing, but at the same time actions had been put in place to get to compliance as quickly as possible.  Funding was available to do the tests and to carry out any remedial actions required following tests.

Hakeem stressed that this had not been a case where officers had taken a lackadaisical attitude to health and safety. The council had been carrying out electrical testing in high rise buildings, both in dwellings and communal areas, but having not done so in all the other places that the council was responsible for managing, it meant that the council was not compliant, hence the referral to the regulator.

Following the report introductions, questions and discussion took place around the following:

·  Current number of homes with compliant test certificates

·  Communication with residents - how this will take place

·  Access to properties to carry out tests, and provision available to enforce this

·  Length of time taken to get testing programme in place

·  Statutory and regulatory requirements – provision in place to evaluate, sense check and ensure they are met

·  Other major housing providers who have not been able deliver against the regulations specified

·  Adequacy of current information technology (IT) system(s) to manage the complex range of data held by the council and suitability for rolling out this work

·  Assisting leaseholders with electrical testing

·  Provision of electricians to undertake the testing

RESOLVED:

That the committee be provided with an update on progress in due course.