Two councils breach Home Standard after failing to meet gas, electrical and asbestos safety

Mid Suffolk told the regulator that more than 250 of its homes do not have a current report, while Babergh said that over 150 of its properties do not have one.

The RSH found that hundreds of homes had not received a gas safety inspection within the statutory timeframe – over 150 for Babergh and more than 100 for Mid Suffolk.

The regulator said that for asbestos safety, the evidence provided showed that the councils did not have valid communal asbestos surveys for all their communal blocks.

The RSH said that Suffolk had only a relatively small number of overdue asbestos re-inspections but that this accounts for over half of the total number required.

Meanwhile, Babergh reported that over 70, or more than 70 per cent, of re-inspection asbestos surveys were overdue.

The councils said that of their 6,788 homes, 344 do not currently have up-to-date electrical safety reports, gas inspections are also overdue on 92 properties, and asbestos re-inspection surveys are not up-to-date on 33 homes.

The RSH said the councils have demonstrated that they now understand the work they need to undertake to ensure the required statutory checks and relevant safety actions are completed.

It said the councils have implemented a programme to rectify these issues and return to compliance with the regulator’s standards.

The RSH said it will not take statutory action at this stage because it has assurance that the breach of the standard is being remedied.

It said it will work with the councils as they continue to address the issues that have led to this situation, including ongoing monitoring of how they deliver their health and safety programme.

However, the regulator said that after taking into account the seriousness of the issues, the length of time tenants were exposed to risk, and the number of tenants potentially affected, it has concluded that the councils have breached the Home Standard. It said there was a risk of serious detriment to tenants during this period.

Kate Dodsworth, director of consumer regulation at the RSH, said: “In its self-referral to us, Babergh District Council recognised that it failed to meet health and safety requirements. We are monitoring the council closely as it addresses these issues and puts things right for tenants.

“Mid Suffolk District Council recognised that it failed to meet health and safety requirements and referred itself to us. We will continue to monitor the council closely as it completes the overdue safety checks and puts things right for tenants.”

The councils said they are confident that their action plan will “promptly result in full compliance” with the required standards but “welcome the support of the regulator in ensuring that robust procedures and practices are embedded”.

The councils said that tenants at every home where an additional inspection is required have already been contacted and they will be writing to all residents this week to keep them updated about the situation.

The councils said they began a programme of work to improve the service last summer, and in-depth assessments arising from this work subsequently identified issues around health and safety compliance.

The councils said that urgent work to address the issues is already under way. It said this includes an overhaul of existing processes, additional inspections and obtaining more robust data around health and safety compliance to provide tenants with “complete reassurance”.

Suzie Morley, leader of Mid Suffolk District Council, said: “Our tenants are our priority, and we want to reassure them any overdue checks will be carried out in a matter of weeks. We are treating this extremely seriously.

“As soon as we became aware of these issues, we put immediate steps in place to put things right and are now working as quickly as possible to ensure each and every council property is fully compliant with regulatory standards.”

John Ward, leader of Babergh District Council, said: “It is disappointing to find ourselves in this position, but we are doing everything we can to address these issues as quickly as we can.

“As a responsible landlord, we referred ourselves to the regulator at the earliest stage to seek guidance and will be taking every possible step to ensure we are providing the best possible service to tenants in the future.”