Milton Keynes City Council has been described as ‘not fit for purpose’ after the Housing Ombudsman found it guilty of severe maladministration.
Secretary of State Michael Gove wrote a letter to the council saying it has ‘failed its residents’ following the finding where a vulnerable resident and her son, both with disabilities, were forced to live with outstanding repairs for years.
Now, Milton Keynes North MP Ben Everitt has accused the Labour-led council of not being 'fit for purpose'.
Ben said: “I’m incredibly disappointed, but not surprised by the way the Labour-led council has handled this whole matter. The initial response to a vulnerable resident’s request for housing repairs is bad enough, but the complete failure in dealing with the subsequent complaint is incredibly concerning.
“This isn’t the first time the Labour-led council has been criticised by the ombudsman and it just further shows what we’ve known for a long time, that Labour simply aren’t fit to run the council in Milton Keynes. The council just isn’t fit for purpose.”
Iain Stewart, the MP for Milton Keynes South, added: “It is really alarming to read the letter from the Secretary of State about the ‘not fit for purpose’ Labour-ran Milton Keynes City Council and their complete disregard for providing residents with a safe space.
“I am thankful for all my caseworker and the Housing Ombudsman have done to assist the constituents in this terrible situation, and I hope the Labour-administration will address its shortcomings to prevent this from happening again.”
In a letter to the City Council, Michael Gove wrote:
"I write following a finding of severe maladministration by the Housing Ombudsman, for your unacceptable complaint handling which led to a vulnerable resident and her son, both with disabilities, living with outstanding repairs for years.
"In this case you failed to raise the resident’s complaint and delayed both stages 1 and 2 of the process, despite the Ombudsman’s involvement. When you did respond you did not do so adequately, and you did not recognise the time you took to resolve the issues. The delays that resulted and your lack of empathy towards the resident and her son, caused her to believe that she was being discriminated against. No resident should be left to feel this way.
"You have failed your residents. Everyone, particularly those who are vulnerable, should be able to expect to live in a decent, home and to have complaints taken seriously and repairs caried out in reasonable time.
"I expect you to implement changes to ensure this does not happen again. I will take a personal interest in whether the changes you say you have made make a tangible difference to your residents.
"I am copying this letter to Iain Stewart MP, Ben Everett MP, Councillor David Hopkins, Councillor Robin Bradburn, Councillor Peter Marland, the Select Committee for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and to the Housing Ombudsman."
David Hopkins, leader of the Conservative Group on Milton Keynes City Council, commented: “It is totally unacceptable that this situation was allowed to develop that led to a vulnerable Milton Keynes City resident and her son, both with disabilities, living with outstanding repairs for years.
“The Labour run council failed to raise the resident’s complaint and delayed both stages 1 and 2 of the process, despite the Ombudsman’s involvement. When the council finally did respond it did not do so adequately, and the council failed to recognise the time it took to resolve the issues. The delays that resulted and the lack of empathy towards the resident and her son, caused her to believe that she was being discriminated against.
“No Milton Keynes resident should be left to feel this way. The council has failed its residents. Everyone, particularly those who are vulnerable, should be able to expect to live in a decent, home and to have complaints taken seriously and repairs caried out in reasonable time.”
Milton Keynes City Council issued a statement stating “We recognise the decision; we apologise to the resident for their experience, and we have put actions in place to prevent these kinds of delays happening again.”
Councillor Emily Darlington, Cabinet Member for Housing, has also issued the following statement: “I’d like to personally apologise to the family involved. The case dates back many years and since I have been the cabinet member, we have changed the housing leadership team and I have been leading the transformation of the MKCC housing service to prevent these unacceptable issues from occurring again. We have made big steps and I’ll push to ensure we keep moving in the right direction.”
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