The following
representation was submitted by Mr S. Raja.
- Fire Risk Assessments (FRA) & Compliance
- The recent FOI response (Ref: FOIA 33570)
confirmed that while all council-owned residential properties have an
FRA, 700 properties have not had an assessment in the past three years.
- Can the council confirm its timeline for
conducting up-to-date FRAs on these properties?
- Will residents be given access to FRA schedules
for their buildings?
- If the council was so confident in the FRA from
2017, how has January 2025 on one of seven hundred properties found
concerns? Were the internal reviews flawed?
- Fire Safety Concerns & Transparency
- The council claims that no inquiries from
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) have gone unanswered.
- However, can the council provide a record of past
concerns raised by LFRS, action taken, and deadlines met to ensure full
transparency?
- Right to Buy (RTB) Delays & Complaints
- The council has refused to provide data on
financial losses or complaints related to RTB delays, citing retrieval
costs.
- Given the significant increase in RTB
applications, does the council have sufficient staffing and resources to
process applications without unnecessary delays?
- Can the council commit to publishing RTB complaint
statistics quarterly to improve transparency? I understand there is no
measure at present and so the leadership demonstrates they have no
control over potential improvements.
- I request a measurement of the RTB (Right to Buy)
team's case response rates. How long do they currently take per case?
Will the council commit to an improvement plan? Currently, there are no
publicly available statistics, meaning no transparency or accountability
on this matter.
- RTB Lease Pack Charges & Accountability
- The council charges £125 per lease pack but does
not track total revenue from these charges.
- Shouldn’t this be a recorded financial
transaction, given that it involves resident payments? How does the
department ensure the finances are allocated correctly back to RTB
or Housing?
- Can the council provide a breakdown of what this
charge covers and how it is justified? If no account is kept, then how
have they made up this figure and justify it?
- Impact of RTB Sales on
Affordable Housing Supply
- Given the budget strain expected from the spike in
RTB applications, what specific measures is the council taking to
offset housing stock depletion?
- Can the council outline its strategy to replenish
lost social housing in the coming years?
- Estate Management
& Housing Services
- The last Scrutiny Commission meeting highlighted
concerns about fly-tipping and estate maintenance in
council-owned housing. I would think the estate maintenance
would include commitment to fire safety.
- What enforcement strategy is in place to tackle
fly-tipping, particularly in council housing areas?
- Given the confusion around the roles of City
Wardens vs. Estate Wardens, can a clear responsibility guide be provided
to tenants?
In Mr Raja’s absence, the
representation was taken as read. The Director of Housing provided a summary
response, and it was noted that:
·
The full, written response was to be sent to Mr
Raja in due course.
·
All council-owned blocks of flats have a Fire
Risk Assessment, the frequency of which are based on the block risk. The block
this enquiry referred to held the lowest risk and there was no mandatory
timescale for conducting the assessment. The FRA was last carried out 7 years
ago. The new FRA had now been completed and it identified a few minor issues
that had since been completed. The process was not felt to be flawed.
·
Leicester City Council’s working relationship
with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service was very good. Independently chosen
sites were audited, and any further requests for information had to be met by a
specific date which had always occurred on time.
·
There had been a significant increase in Right
to Buy applications, which has affected turnaround times.
·
The lease pack charge of £125 reflected
administrative costs and established financial governance procedures had been
followed to ensure appropriate management of payments.
·
Estate Wardens carried out regular ongoing
maintenance of estates, while City Wardens worked with Housing officers to
address instances where waste had been fly-tipped, and tenants needed to be
interviewed and possibly fined for the offence.
The Chair asked whether
members had any questions or comments. It was noted that:
- City
wardens were going to be working outside of their usual locations for
several weeks, meaning more pressure may fall on Housing Officers.
Appropriate communications were suggested.