Good journalism they say changes things. It has come to pass that the Director of Property Services at East Kent Housing, Mr Mark Anderson (pictured) has lost his job – effective immediately. Issues of overcharging, gas safety certificates, electrical tests and asbestos issues have all contributed to his his downfall, as is clear from his responsibilities as portfolio holder. He was directly responsible for – capital works, cyclical decorations, building engineering services, estate services, planned maintenance, responsive repairs and statutory compliance functions.
According to the 2017/18 accounts his total remuneration including pension costs was £103,177. It is not yet known if Mr Anderson will receive any payout for the loss of his job.
East Kent Housing is the largestArms Length Management Organisationin the country responsible for 15,800 plus homes. It is owned by Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe and Thanet District Councils. Each have a 25% stake in the company.
Mr Anderson was previously Director of Assets and Regeneration of the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation and was a lead on the planning and ‘consultation’ on the botched Grenfell Tower refurbishment, including cladding. We understand he has been interviewed under caution and will attend the Grenfell Fire Inquiry at some point.
Meanwhile, the gas safety certificates figures are much higher than what Kentonline have published. The figures they have quoted are for the month of May. The figures as of June 7th stood at over 900. So up by nearly 400 in less than a month. The increase as we understand is due to Gas Contract Services Ltd, the company brought in to check P & Rs work, has “not beenfulfilling its brief.” The figures may well increase not diminish, due to old gas certificates being more than a year old. P & R were supposed to undertake approx 300 Landlord Gas Safety Assessments a week.
Today (17/06/19) Canterbury Labour MP Rosie Duffield MP asked a question in Parliament about the Landlord Gas Safety Assessments quoting the May figures, NOT the up to date June figures.
We hope and pray the Councillors in all four councils will follow her example and ask questions in their Council chambers in the near future. It must be discoverd how we came to be in this mess.
Also let’s not forget former Folkestone & Hythe District Cllr Alan-Ewart James (former Cabinet member for Housing) & former Cllr David Owen’s role (former Cllr representative on the EKH board) in this mess either. We will come back to them in the coming days.
Now that Mr Anderson has been removed, we hope and pray that the staff of East Kent Housing will resolve the outstanding issues, without any further hindrance from Mr Anderson, and the risk of any tragedy waiting to happen will diminish sooner rather than later.
