12 December 2011 Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

Transcription

1 Report on an investigation into complaint no against Brighton and Hove City Council 12 December 2011 Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

2 Investigation into complaint no against Brighton and Hove City Council Table of Contents Page Report summary 1 Introduction 3 Investigation 3 Legal and administrative background 3 The Council s repairing responsibilities under the tenancy agreement 3 The Council s contractor for repairs 3 Insurance 3 What happened 4 Background 4 The first flood January The insurance claim for the flood March The contractor installs dehumidifiers July The second flood December Keys returned March View of Council officers and officers from the contractor 6 Contract 6 Monitoring 7 Lack of proactivity 7 December 2010 flood 7 No handover 8 Conclusion 8 Injustice 8 Remedy 9 Key to names used Mr Quinn the complainant For legal reasons the names in this report are not the real names of the people involved

3 Report summary Subject Mr Quinn is a Council tenant; he has a history of physical and mental health problems. In January 2010 his flat was badly damaged by water from burst loft pipes; the extent of the damage was so severe that he had to move out. Mr Quinn was offered temporary accommodation but he felt it was unsuitable. He stayed with a friend, on the sofa, until the summer of 2011 when he was finally able to return home. For reasons that are unclear, dehumidifiers were not installed until July 2010; repairs were then carried out from July to November. During this time the damaged pipe in the loft was repaired but the remaining pipes were neither checked nor insulated. In late November the water system was refilled in preparation for Mr Quinn moving home. However, no heating was put on and the flat was still empty. On 3 December there was a second major flood caused by a burst pipe in a different area of the loft. The second flood caused significant damage and was not discovered until January Further repairs were carried out and the keys were returned to the Council, by the contractor, in March There was no formal handover and when Mr Quinn went home he found a number of outstanding problems. Again, for reasons that are not clear, these problems were not resolved until a senior officer from the contractor became involved in late July. The work was finally signed off on 27 July 2011 but not before the officer discovered that 60% of the pipes still remained unlagged and piles of wet insulation had been left in the loft. All the repairs have now been completed and the Council confirmed in October 2011 that Mr Quinn was settled back into his home. However, the Council has said that Mr Quinn should have been able to return home by July Finding The Ombudsman found there had been an unreasonable delay in installing the dehumidifiers and starting the repairs. There was also a lack of monitoring, which, if in place, might have prevented the matter from becoming so protracted. The second flood was a serious setback but the evidence suggests it could have been avoided if reasonable precautions had been taken. There was no formal handover which meant that the outstanding issues were not identified and there was a further delay in not ensuring these issues were addressed until the summer. The Ombudsman was also concerned by the lack of adequate records which made it difficult to identify what happened. And she was concerned by the lack of support which was provided to Mr Quinn. 1

4 Recommended remedy The Ombudsman recommended the Council pay Mr Quinn 3,000 in recognition of the significant injustice he was caused. She welcomed the Council s decision to pay Mr Quinn 200 in recognition of a council tax error which resulted in him being pursued by bailiffs for council tax on his flat whilst it was uninhabitable; the 200 was paid during the course of the investigation to help Mr Quinn purchase essential items. In total, the Ombudsman recommended the Council pay 3,200 to Mr Quinn. The Council has agreed to implement a number of procedural changes to prevent similar problems happening again. The Ombudsman welcomes these steps. 2

5 Introduction 1. Mr Quinn complains about the Council s delay in repairing his flat following a serious flood which occurred in January The flat was not fully repaired until July 2011 and he was not able to return until then. Throughout this time Mr Quinn, who has a history of physical and mental health problems, was sleeping on a sofa in his friend s living room. Mr Quinn says the events since January 2010 have had a significant impact on his heath. Investigation 2. One of my investigators has corresponded with the Council, inspected files, interviewed officers, and visited Mr Quinn. The Council and Mr Quinn were invited to comment on a draft of this report. I have taken their comments into account in preparing the final text and reaching my conclusions. Legal and administrative background The Council s repairing responsibilities under the tenancy agreement 3. The Council is legally required to ensure that the fixtures and fittings for the water supply are safe and in working order. Emergency repairs, for example, burst pipes, must be dealt with immediately. The Council s Repairs Guide says that repairs will generally be completed within a maximum of six weeks. But when a repair is not straightforward, such as in a case of severe flooding, then a surveyor will visit to advise what works are necessary. The Council s contractor for repairs 4. The Council entered into a ten year partnership contract with a new company in June 2009, which started in April Under this agreement the contractor became responsible for dealing with repairs for the Council s housing stock. As part of the new arrangements some Council staff became employees of the new contractor. Insurance 5. The Tenant handbook advises tenants to take out contents insurance as the Council does not insure personal belongings. The handbook explains that contents insurance is important in case a tenant s belongings are damaged by fire, flood or theft. Mr Quinn did not have contents insurance during

6 What happened Background 6. Mr Quinn moved into his flat in This followed some time spent in supported accommodation after a period of mental ill health which had included two occasions when he was detained under the Mental Health Act. Mr Quinn suffers from a number of other health problems including mobility issues and pancreatitis; he is also an alcoholic and is on methadone. The property is a house which has been converted into two flats; Mr Quinn lives on the first floor. The first flood January On 7 January 2010 Mr Quinn received a call to say there had been a major leak from the loft. He returned home to find that the ceilings had collapsed, the Fire Brigade was in attendance, and both flats had been saturated with gallons of water. The Council arranged for an emergency plumber and a surveyor to attend. The Council also arranged for Mr Quinn to spend the night in a hotel. The tenant from the ground floor flat was also provided with emergency accommodation. 8. Due to the extent of the water damage it was clear that Mr Quinn would not be able to return home for some time. The Council says it offered temporary accommodation (a single room with shared facilities) but Mr Quinn said he would prefer to stay with a friend. Mr Quinn, however, says he spent a few nights in the temporary accommodation but felt scared and had to leave. He says the accommodation was full of drug addicts and alcoholics and he was worried that to remain would be detrimental to his health. Mr Quinn went to stay with a friend in his one bedroom flat; he had to sleep on the sofa and says the cramped conditions led to some arguments. However, Mr Quinn says his friend provided a huge amount of support and Mr Quinn said he would not still be alive if it were not for the support of his friend. 9. The tenant from the ground floor flat was offered alternative permanent accommodation which he accepted. This was also discussed with Mr Quinn but declined because he wanted to return to his home once the repairs had been completed. 10. It is not clear what exactly happened from January to July Both flats were badly damaged and the power supply had been lost. Records show there were a lot of s between the contractor and the insurance department, quotes were obtained and the flat was made safe. There is a note in the insurance file which says it took four months for quotes to be submitted. Following mandatory asbestos tests Mr Quinn was able to access his belongings in March and those items which could be salvaged were stored by the Council, free of charge. However, Mr Quinn has subsequently reported that not all of his belongings have 4

7 been returned; he has submitted a claim for the missing items on the Council s insurance. The insurance claim for the flood March In March 2010 Mr Quinn submitted a claim to the Council s insurers for the damage caused by the flood. An insurance officer notified a housing manager and reported that Mr Quinn appeared to have written on the form that the flood had caused: Anxiety and depression and I feel like committing suicide. Can t take any more. So sorry. The housing officer replied later that day saying he had seen Mr Quinn the previous day and he seemed OK; there was no referral to a support agency or to Mr Quinn s GP. The insurance claim was declined by the Council s insurers on 9 March The contractor installs dehumidifiers July In July 2010 dehumidifiers were installed; officers have subsequently explained that these should have been in operation no later than a month after the flood. There is a record in the repairs file which states that on 12 July the strip-out started to allow the full extent of the works to be confirmed. Repairs were then ongoing until the end of November when it appears the work was nearly complete. The second flood December In late November the water system was refilled in preparation for a final handover. However, no heating was put on. On about 3 December there was another burst pipe, from a different area in the loft, which caused another major flood affecting both flats. It is not clear exactly what happened but it appears nobody from the Council or the contractor became aware of the second flood until early January Both flats were again saturated so there had to be another period of drying out and of repairs. 14. Throughout this period there are a number of s sent by the contractor to the Council which say that the work will shortly be finished; however, each anticipated date then slipped. It is not clear to what extent Mr Quinn was kept informed of developments. The records merely state that he was kept informed but there are no detailed records confirming this. Mr Quinn says he was repeatedly told he would be returning home soon, but was then told the flat was still not ready. This was particularly acute in late 2010 when he was told the work was nearly complete but then everything was set back due to the second flood. Keys returned March The contractor returned the keys to Mr Quinn s flat on 15 March 2011; there was no inspection or formal handover. When Mr Quinn returned to the flat he found a 5

8 number of problems including a broken pane of glass, a broken doorbell, and a crack in a window pane. He also discovered that a new wash basin had been fitted in the bathroom but it was tiny. An officer who works for the contractor told me that the basin was not fit for purpose and he had no idea why it had been fitted. The Council however, in response to a draft of this report, said that the basin was technically fit for purpose but was changed in order to better meet Mr Quinn s needs. 16. Mr Quinn did not move back into the property at this point. This was partly because he needed time to sort out utilities and partly because he had very few belongings. He was also concerned about the outstanding repairs. It appears Mr Quinn and his housing officer attempted to move things along but until June little progress seems to have been made. 17. In June the housing officer contacted the contractor saying everything had stalled and asking for help. In response an officer visited the flat and identified 20 problems that should have been resolved before the keys were returned. This included discovering that 60% of the loft pipes remained un-lagged. He also found that a pile of wet insulation material had been left in the loft. Some further works were carried out during June and July and the property was finally signed off on 27 July By late August Mr Quinn was in the process of moving back but new damp patches emerged and further dehumidifiers were installed. However, the repairs are, in essence, complete. And there will be a further inspection in six months time. View of Council officers and officers from the contractor 18. My investigator has inspected a large number of files and spoken to a range of officers from the Council and from the contractor. During the investigation the Council has been very open in admitting that it has made mistakes. Virtually every officer has agreed that the repairs should have been fully completed by July During 2010 there had also been a council tax problem; in error, the Council had failed to apply an exemption to Mr Quinn s flat resulting in two visits from bailiffs which Mr Quinn found very upsetting. The Council has already paid Mr Quinn 200 compensation for this element of the complaint. I felt it was important for Mr Quinn to have some money as soon as possible to help him as he moves back to the flat. Contract 20. Although the contract for the repair work did not start until April 2010 the contractor agreed to take on work from January 2010; this meant it took responsibility for dealing with Mr Quinn s property from the date of the flood. However, officers from the contractor have said that despite new work being taken on there had not been a corresponding increase in staff and new structures 6

9 had not been put in place. The Council, however, says that some new structures were in place and it is inaccurate to say that new work was taken on without the introduction of any new structures. Officers also said that the period from January to April 2010 was a period of great uncertainty and anxiety and it was a challenge to maintain focus. The Council has suggested that the transition to the new partnership contributed to the delays in repairing Mr Quinn s flat. Monitoring 21. A number of officers stated that this case had fallen under the radar and none of the senior officers from the Council or from the contractor seemed to be aware that the repairs were taking so long. One officer who works for the contractor said he monitored cases in terms of overdue target dates; but, this case did not trigger any such dates. The officer explained that if he had also been monitoring the age of cases then the delay would have been identified during He explained that cases are now being monitored by age and he was confident that a potential delay would now be identified more quickly. Another officer suggested that once the repairs had been ongoing for six months then it should have been flagged as a case that needed attention. There was a suggestion by some officers from the contractor that the housing department could have done more to monitor the situation and flag up concerns. The Council, however, has said that this statement is unhelpful and does not accurately represent the roles and responsibilities within the partnership. Lack of proactivity 22. Officers have suggested there should have been a more proactive response in the early stages. The situation was difficult because of the extent of the flood and the lack of power. However, officers agreed there should have been early discussions about how to rig up an alternative power supply and steps should have been taken to ensure the dehumidifiers were quickly installed and some heating provided to assist with the drying out. December 2010 flood 23. The view of at least one officer was that the second flood probably would not have happened if proper precautions had been taken. He explained that staff fixed, and lagged, the pipe that had burst in January However, nobody checked the rest of the pipes. The officer suggested there had been a failure to take a holistic approach and to think beyond the presenting issues. He said he would have expected all the pipes to have been checked and lagged. He also said he would have expected some heating to have been left on when the system was refilled in late November. 7

10 No handover 24. Virtually every officer agreed that the lack of an inspection and formal handover in March 2011 was a key failing. Given the delay and the extent of the work, officers agreed there should have been a final inspection. It was accepted that if this had taken place then the problems which were subsequently dealt with during June and July, would probably have been completed earlier. The Council says a handover procedure has now been introduced. Conclusion 25. It seems to be widely accepted by the Council that Mr Quinn should have been home by July But the Council has not been able to explain why it took so long for the work to start. There was an unreasonable delay in installing the dehumidifiers. There was also a lack of monitoring of the time the job had been outstanding. And there is a lack of adequate records which has impaired my ability to find a full explanation for the delays. 26. Clearly the December 2010 flood was a serious setback but the evidence from officers indicates that it could have been avoided. It seems to me that the Council should have ensured that all the pipes were properly lagged when work was being done following the first flood. If that had happened then the second flood would probably have been avoided. 27. There was also an unreasonable delay from March until July 2011 when the snagging inspection took place revealing problems such as the tiny sink and the wet insulation in the loft. 28. The failures set out above in paragraphs 25 to 27 amount to maladministration. Injustice 29. The effect on Mr Quinn has been significant. Since January 2010 he has been sleeping on his friend s sofa. Mr Quinn agrees he told the Council he wanted to stay with his friend rather than in the temporary accommodation but there is no evidence the Council considered offering him something else, or checked at regular intervals that he was still content to stay with his friend. And Mr Quinn was left in a prolonged state of uncertainty about when he would be able to go home. 30. Mr Quinn says his health has been affected; he is now on increased medication and says he was admitted to hospital 20 times last year. He told my investigator he considered ending his life and it was only the support of his friend that kept him alive. Mr Quinn says he is now a changed person and rarely goes out. 8

11 Remedy 31. The Council has already put in place a number of procedural improvements to prevent similar problems happening again. This includes a 14-point action plan. The key points include: Review the decant policy. Increase the monitoring of tenants who have been decanted. Increased monitoring of overdue repairs; improved use of escalation procedures. Improved working arrangements with the contractor and the introduction of bi-monthly meetings. Introduce a comprehensive sign off process for major repairs. Introduce a process to ensure that residents and housing management are given monthly updates during major works. Insurance process to be reviewed. Initial visit in major works cases to identify main issues and to consider appropriate support for the tenant and note temporary contact details. Develop a system to flag vulnerable tenants on the contractor s system. Introduce a decant leaflet for tenants. 32. To remedy the serious injustice caused to Mr Quinn: I recommend the Council pays him 3,000 in recognition of the significant and avoidable delay in enabling him to return home, and the prolonged uncertainty and stress caused to him during this time. This is in addition to the 200 that has already been paid in relation to the council tax error. I welcome the fact that the Council has indicated it is willing to remedy the injustice in line with my recommendations and it has confirmed that work is progressing with the procedural improvements. Dr Jane Martin 12 December 2011 Local Government Ombudsman 10 th Floor Millbank Tower Millbank London SW1P 4QP 9