Simon Jupp MP calls for East Devon District Council leadership to get a grip on housing complaints following a damning report
The MP for East Devon has called for East Devon District Council’s political leadership to wake up and act after an independent auditor published a damning report on the council’s failures in handling housing complaints.
In the report published by Grant Thornton, an external organisation appointed to consider whether the council is using its resources effectively, the auditors identified that no formal agreed action plan to improve their housing service had been established despite having one of the highest maladministration rates in the country at 89%, as recorded by complaints to the Housing Ombudsman.
During meetings with the council’s interim chief executives, Simon Jupp MP has raised his serious concerns over the high number and significant range of housing complaints received from residents at his regular advice surgeries in Sidmouth and Exmouth. These complaints include failed heating systems, persistent mould, condemned rooms and houses being left empty for months due to a lengthy wait for important repairs.
Simon Jupp MP is calling on the political leadership of the council to agree a formal action plan including a method to report on progress for councillors and MPs as a priority.
Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon, said; “Some of the people being housed by East Devon District Council are the most vulnerable in our district and they deserve so much better. This report is truly damning for East Devon District Council’s Liberal Democrat political leadership who continue to sit on their hands without a plan to sort out their mess. This is a dire dereliction of duty. Homes are being left empty for months with overdue repairs, whilst local people are stuck on the waiting list as the council's leadership fails to act. I have had enough and so have many tenants, some of whom have broken down in tears at my regular advice surgeries. I will be meeting with the Interim Chief Executives of East Devon District Council again next week to go through several serious outstanding cases, and I want to see an urgent plan from the political leadership to improve the situation. Council officers are doing their best but without proper political leadership, I’m fearful for the future of many tenants living in poor conditions which is affecting their physical and mental health. It’s time for leading councillors to wake up and act quickly to tackle mounting housing complaints across the district.”