Slum Landlord, Double Payments, Overcharging and Killing Pensioners
Double payments, overcharging, lack of adherence to legislation and a failure to manage the P & R contract, and all the issues raised in Appendix 3: Audit report for East Kent Housing (EKH) – tenant health and safety, were known about as early as July 2018 by East Kent Housing.
On the 5th July 2018, the Chief Executive of East Kent Housing, Deborah Upton and former Director of Property Services Mark Anderson both received a draft report which was issued by East Kent Audit Partnership. On the 3rd Oct 2018, the final report was issued to the people above, the Assistant Director of Property Services and all the client officers in all four Councils who own East Kent Housing – Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe and Thanet Councils. A copy of the report can be downloaded here – Contract Management of Planned Contracts (released under FoI)
The report titled: Contract Management of Planned Contracts, makes it clear that in July 2018 there were:
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Extensive over charging and double charging by contractors which has cost the public purse £millions
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no pre or post inspections undertaken on the 927 boiler installations – not one.
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A new IT system which has massively overspent, costing £millions and is still not fully working
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Failure to check the quality and safety of finished works
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Officers not qualified or experienced in checking contractors work forced to do so
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Poor and incompetent contract management and supervision
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Vacant properties left far too long before letting, losing rental income
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Hundreds of gas and electrical safety checks not carried out in time
Another excellent article, well done to the SV Team. If our Cllrs on O & S do not vote to withdraw, I for one won’t be voting green in Hythe again.
The demise of East Kent Housing cannot come quickly enough. It is an organisation with a track record of failure, graft and dangerous incompetence. You should offer a platform to those past and present councilors who were charged with its oversight and ask them to explain the reasons for their neglect and gross failure of oversight. Tenants and local council tax payers are perfectly entitled to hold them to account. Are they prepared to face the music?