Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 19 January 2023, be

received and approved as a correct record.

The Scrutiny Research Officer welcomed all present to the meeting and introduced Chris Clipstone, the Council’s Assistant Director for Housing Operations, who was in attendance to give Members some background and insight into the Council’s current position regarding the management of incidences of damp and mould within the Council’s housing stock.

The Damp and Mould topic had been added to the Select Work Programme following a request from the Assistant Director, for Members to become involved in the development of a new Policy to reflect the recent amendment to the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill and the new requirements for social landlords.

The Assistant Director for Housing Operations took the opportunity to give some background into the topic and advised that issues surrounding damp and mould in private and social housing had been in the news for some time due to the sad passing of 2-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale.  The coroner’s

report had identified that mould present in his home was a contributing factor in his death and that he died from prolonged exposure to mould.

As a result of this awful and unnecessary loss of life, the Government tabled amendments to the Social Housing Regulation Bill and introduced ‘Awaab’s Law’, which would now require landlords to fix reported health hazards in homes within specified timeframes.  Following consultation later in the year, new timeframes are due to be set to ensure the timely removal of any damp and mould issues in properties owned by social landlords, whilst also enabling them to be held to account by tenants through the courts should they fail to provide a decent home.

As a result of the national reporting of the case, the Council had seen a significant increase in contact from residents reporting damp and mould issues and requesting repairs.  Current procedures allowed for officers to inspect any problems within 14 days and then programme in any necessary repairs within a suitable timeframe.  However, anticipated new timeframes were going to be far stricter with a resulting impact on current employees and workloads.

Members were then advised as to different types of mould and their causes including preventative mould (i.e. leaking roof) and condensation damp. 

As part of the Government’s initial consultation, local authorities nationally had been required to submit a response to 10 questions by December 2022 to provide assurance that they had a clear understanding of damp and mould issues within their properties and could address the risks as required.

The Council however, had been assessing its position for some time and had been trying to find additional resources to support the enhanced level of service and response.  To that end, a new officer had recently been recruited with a dedicated role of assessing and prioritising incidences of damp and mould in Council owned properties District-wide.

A detailed debate ensued and Members discussed the following:

·         damp and mould issues arising due to heating being turned down/off as a result of ongoing financial difficulties being faced by tenants in the current climate

·         an  ...  view the full minutes text for item SB.3