Deborah Upton

£2.5 million pound of financial irregularities on Council roofing contract under investigation

May 10, 2022 // 2 Comments

Anthony Wallner (pictured) is not a name you would have heard of. But regular readers won’t be surprised to learn that he is the Asset & Major Works Senior [...]

Good News: Significant strides made by Council making Council housing safe for tenants

July 27, 2021 // 2 Comments

It’s not often we are able to tell you Folkestone & Hythe District Council are getting something right. But this is one of those rare moments to let you know that [...]

Brave New World of Council Housing in East Kent

October 1, 2020 // 8 Comments

Updated: 07/10/20 – @ 08:00 East Kent Housing is dead, just like that parrot. At midnight (30th Sept) it ceased to be. All its functions and responsibilities have now [...]

The Long Read: Planning excites passion.

August 1, 2020 // 6 Comments

Planning has always been the hottest of all local government topics. It’s the one most likely to stir the passions of local people and yet no sooner have those passions [...]

Here We Go Again: Gas Safety Issues At East Kent Housing

June 22, 2020 // 4 Comments

Updated 17:00 22/06/20 More sources than the 57 varieties of Heinz have stepped forward and informed the Shepwayvox Team that as of 1st June 2020 there were well in excess [...]

“It’s nothing short of scandalous” as 40,000 plus EKH council tenants data placed at “significant security and operational risk”

June 10, 2020 // 1 Comment

“The servers that the [East Kent Housing] system runs on are due for replacement and the Northgate software is out of support. This poses a significant security and [...]

East Kent Housing “run on servers and software which are NOT compliant with the most basic data safety standards”

May 31, 2020 // 1 Comment

“As I understand it East Kent Housing (EKH) is being run from an unsupported two versions owned, obsolete version of Northgate software which is hosted on servers which [...]

Councils in dispute with gas contractor while setting a date to transfer East Kent Housing services to councils

April 25, 2020 // 1 Comment

On the 13th December 2019, the four chief execs of Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe and Thanet Councils became the directors of East Kent Housing. The Shepwayvox [...]

Karma Comes Around For Mark Anderson?

March 15, 2020 // 2 Comments

Before he joined East Kent Housing (EKH), Mark Anderson (pictured) former Director of Property, had according to his Linkedin page, seventeen jobs between 1985 and June 2016. [...]

Part 3: Folkestone & Hythe District Council Financial Irregularities

January 4, 2020 // 4 Comments

In this final piece (for now) we look at at very specific part of the time line in the P & R potential £1.5 million pound fraud which came about as a result of failings [...]

Ross House: Five Fire Risk Assessments And Still Significant Issues Remain

December 27, 2019 // 2 Comments

Ross House, Ross Way, Folkestone is home to 43 people. Since Folkestone & Hythe District Council began housing people there in April 2018, five fire risk assessments have [...]

EKH Chief Exec Deborah Upton Has Stepped Down

December 23, 2019 // 13 Comments

Updated: 16:40 East Kent Housing’s Chief Executive Deborah Upton (pictured) has stepped down from her role following a string of failures by the organisation. Well placed [...]

The Long Read: The Blame Game

December 21, 2019 // 3 Comments

In two reports, the HQN Report (not yet seen by Cllrs) commissioned by East Kent Housing (EKH); and the Pennington Report commissioned by the four Councils, evidence of EKH [...]

The Long Read: Penny Wise And Pound Foolish

December 14, 2019 // 4 Comments

The Pennington Report – a report into the failings of East Kent Housing and the four Councils of Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe and Thanet – makes it [...]

Councils Take Decisive Action To Dismiss East Kent Housing Board

December 12, 2019 // 22 Comments

The Four Councils who own East Kent Housing, Dover Canterbury, Folkestone & Hythe and Thanet have today (12/12/19) dismissed the East Kent Housing Board and taken direct [...]

Rewarding Failure with a Ten Grand Pay Rise.

December 4, 2019 // 3 Comments

Deborah Josephine Upton (pictured), Chief Executive of East Kent Housing (EKH) was awarded a nine thousand six hundred and eighteen (£9,618) pound pay rise in 2018/19. Since [...]

Ross House: A Tissue of Lies

December 1, 2019 // 2 Comments

Pursuant to section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, Ross House was not fire compliant when Folkestone & Hythe [...]

Ross House Is A “Tinderbox” and All Tenants Must Be Moved Immediately

November 8, 2019 // 1 Comment

All tenants living in Ross House should be moved out immediately as it is a “tinderbox”, according to a number of sources across mutliple organisations. This is [...]

Ross House not fire compliant since purchase for £1.8 million in April 2018

November 4, 2019 // 3 Comments

Updated: 08:21 5th Nov 2019 In Feb 2018, two months prior to purchasing Ross House, Folkestone, East Kent Audit Partnership slammed fire safety at East Kent Housing managed [...]

Conversion of Ross House “was total shit” and “sub standard” yet Council paid £1.8 million

November 2, 2019 // 3 Comments

Updated 4th Nov 10:35 Cllr Tim Prater has made candid public statements about the conversion of Ross House, Ross Way into 16 flats, owned by the Council since April 2018, [...]

Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe and Thanet Council Tenants suffered Carbon Monoxide poisoning and hospitalised during failed P & R contract

October 21, 2019 // 9 Comments

Exclusive – Updated 22/10/19 – 08:30am The Shepwayvox Team has acquired a growing body of evidence that tenants living in the 17,000 plus properties owned by the [...]

The End Of The Beginning For East Kent Housing

October 16, 2019 // 13 Comments

So the beginning ends. Folkestone & Hythe District Council Cabinet has agreed in principal to withdraw from East Kent Housing and begin a consultation process with all [...]

Slum Landlord, Double Payments, Overcharging and Killing Pensioners

October 15, 2019 // 2 Comments

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 [...]

EKH rocked by safety issues looks set for closure after two of its owner councils voted to take housing stock back in-house

October 11, 2019 // 6 Comments

After more than a year of investigating by the Shepwayvox Team, East Kent Housing looks like it may have run its course after eight years of existence. On Wednesday 9th Oct [...]

One fifth of Council Housing stock not fit for purpose

September 13, 2019 // 3 Comments

On the 5th June, 2017 a report to the East Kent Housing (EKH) board (page 99) made it explicitly clear that “the level of non-decent homes currently stood at around [...]

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