Who's Accountable? Tower Hamlets Repair Failures Spark Urgent Questions

The Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, has launched a blistering attack on private housing repair companies, declaring the council’s own repair service "not fit for purpose." During a recent cabinet sub-committee meeting, Mayor Rahman shared personal accounts of visiting council tenants' homes and finding what he described as "shoddy workmanship," including mould, condensation, and botched repairs.

The mayor's frustrations are rooted in tangible examples of failure. He recounted the "absolutely terrible" state of repairs at the Watts Grove flats and a separate visit to Pauline House, where a kitchen worktop had been replaced using two different colors. While the specific contractor for these two cases was not named, Rahman singled out Mears as a company he had particular issues with.

A report presented to the council confirmed a "decline in performance" in the housing repair service. It attributed the problems to supply chain issues and a struggle to find and keep skilled tradespeople, many of whom are opting for the flexibility and higher pay of independent contracting. In response, David Joyce, the council’s corporate director of housing, stated that the council has adopted "robust contract management" to tackle the problems, claiming this prompted Mears to allocate more resources. However, Joyce admitted that Mears was just one of seven contractors with ongoing issues.

A council spokesperson acknowledged the impact on residents and pledged to improve the service through new measures, including weekly performance reviews. However, the mayor's criticisms and the council's own report suggest that these measures have yet to make a meaningful impact on the ground.

The situation raises serious questions about the council's duty to its tenants. It is the council's responsibility to ensure that work is completed to a high standard, but the evidence presented suggests a breakdown in oversight and accountability. For a service deemed "not fit for purpose," the council must be transparent with its residents and answer crucial questions.

The public deserves to know how the council manages its relationship with these contractors. Does the council pay for a job before or after it has been properly inspected and signed off? Who is responsible for conducting these final inspections to ensure quality, and what are the specific consequences for a company that repeatedly fails to meet standards? Furthermore, given the challenges in attracting tradespeople, residents are left to wonder what the long-term solution will be. Will the council raise pay rates for contractors or even consider creating its own in-house repair team to guarantee quality and timeliness?

As Mears offered only a boilerplate statement about its commitment to "delivering a reliable, quality service," the onus remains on the council to demonstrate how it will fix this broken system and ensure its tenants are not left to live with "shoddy workmanship."

Lutfur Rahman is the mayor of Tower Hamlets, an East London borough with the UK's largest British Bangladeshi community. Rahman, who is of Bangladeshi origin, has a long political history in the area.a