2 days Ago
A council has been criticised after a "staggering" blunder left a Norwich man without a fire-safe front door for more than two years. Despite measuring the city home's front door space on four different occasions, it took Norwich City Council 28 months before a replacement which met fire safety regulations was installed. The delay led to the Housing Ombudsman Service - the watchdog which deals with complaints about landlords - making a finding of severe maladministration against the Labour-run council.
The council had blamed the hold up on being unsure about the exact specification for new fire doors in the light of new legislation introduced after the Grenfell Tower fire, in which 72 people died. While the man, who leased his home from City Hall turned down a temporary door, saying he wanted to wait for a permanent one, the ombudsman criticised the council for how long it took. The council measured the space for the door four times and received three different quotes for the work to be done.
But the ombudsman, which described the delay as "staggering" said it should have acted much sooner to keep the resident safe. READ MORE: Norwich City Council spending £7m on fire door replacements The ombudsman said: "The landlord attributed the delay to being unsure about the exact specification for fire doors under new legislation, although it could have replaced it with a door that met the regulations at the time." The ombudsman said the council failed to respond to the resident's phone calls and emails on "several occasions" and when it did speak to him, staff gave him "inaccurate, contradictory, or misleading information".
The ombudsman also made a finding of severe maladministration in another case. A new council house tenant went without water for five days because the supply to the home was not connected - a legal obligation the council failed to fulfil. READ MORE: Norfolk councils face axe in major government overhaul A Norwich City Council spokeswoman said: "Our residents are right to expect a better service from us as their landlord.
"We are sorry that we didn’t do a good job in these cases. In light of these failings, we have been working hard to make sure we learn and improve. "We are now heading in the right direction after a review which has led to improvements in the services which handle repairs and maintenance for our residents.
"We have also introduced changes which improve how we handle complaints, ensuring that we respond promptly." READ MORE: Norfolk council caused 'distress' to disabled man's family.
