Is this the end of the line for Northamptonshire Partnership Homes?
Amid the scandal of thousands of sub standard homes, West Northamptonshire Council’s leader says the authority has not ruled out taking its housing stock back in-house
By Sarah Ward
Sign up for our free posts
Northamptonshire Partnership Homes could be in its final days, as the leader of the West unitary has said the authority will consider the option of bringing control of social housing back in-house.
Last week the council’s chief executive revealed the authority had referred itself to the Regulator for Social Housing over a catalogue of issues within its arms length housing company NPH, which has amounted to a scandal of thousands of homes not up to national standards.
Data about repairs and safety checks have been falsely reported to the authority and with many rechecks now happening, hundreds more homes could be found to be in a state of disrepair. On April 1 new consumer standards for social housing providers were introduced by the government, through the Grenfell inspired Social Housing Act 2023, and NPH’s problems have been uncovered since then.
At the WNC cabinet meeting on Tuesday, council leader Adam Brown, who until former leader Jonathan Nunn stood down in April was the cabinet member for housing, said the authority would be taking over management of any new housing projects and may take the area’s social housing out of NPH control.
He said:
“We recognise that these performance failings are entirely unacceptable and we are committed to ensuring that all our tenants live in high quality homes. Let me say that the council will consider every option available to correct this situation, up to and including bringing services under direct control of the council.”
‘Councillors inundated with case work’
Tory councillor for Billing and Rectory Farm James Hill, whose ward has one of the highest concentrations of NPH housing, said since the news broke last week he and other ward councillors have been ‘inundated’ with casework from residents and concerns had ‘skyrocketed’. He said he has arranged to meet with NPH boss Steve Feast to discuss an action plan.
He said:
“What is abundantly clear is there are flaws in the processes for reporting and recording issues. Three separate reporting pathways lead to discrepancies, inefficiencies and ultimately unresolved issues. The problems are frequently misreported or even ignored altogether.
“Centralising the reporting system should be a straightforward fix, in my opinion and will go a long way to ensure that issues are logged, tracked and resolved in a timely and transparent manner.”
‘Don't believe what is put in front of you’
A report put before the council stated that there had been major data mis reporting from NPH to the council, wil numbers out by thousands. Some checks that had been stated as being done, were also found not to have happened.
Leader of the Labour opposition Cllr Wendy Randall said:
“How am I going to be assured now, going forward that everything is cross checked? I don't know how many residents phone in with issues with their housing. I don't know whether these are acted on. Why weren’t these checks done? Was it because there wasn't enough staff, or was it that somebody was just tickling a box to say it was done?
She added:
“I think lessons need to be learned, that you don't just believe what is put in front of you.”
Leader Brown said that there was no indication the data issues were down to staff shortages. The council’s chief executive reassured the leader of the opposition that the authority was now going through the data on a granular level on a weekly basis. She said by the end of December it would be known how much of the 11,500 social homes in the area were sub standard.
Cllr Bob Purser, who has served on the NPH Board, said the council’s scrutiny function needed to take a closer look at housing, with social housing stock at such great capacity in Northampton, due to its former status as a new town.
‘It’s no defence to say they were misinformed’
The board of NPH meets bi-monthly and a number of councillors and WNC officers, including the second highest officer in the council, assistant chief executive Rebecca Purnell, have sat on the board.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Rosie Humphreys said it was not good enough for board members to claim they had been hoodwinked by inaccurate data.
She said:
“All those who serve or have served on the board are legally responsible for the company’s records, accounts and performance. It’s no defence to say they were misinformed. It’s not about what you don’t know, it’s about the questions you ask. I dont think it's an exaggeration to say that the failure of governance amounts to an institutional failure at member, portfolio holder and officer level for many years. Clearly the new arrangements implemented when WNC was first formed were insufficient to say the least.
“This council, since its inception has had a number of seismic reputational hits, and it's extremely disheartening to be reeling from another one. However, far more serious than reputational impact, is the impact on those in desperate need of housing in our area, every single person on our housing register has been let down.”
Leader Brown responded by saying:
“In terms of legal responsibilities, clearly I’m not a lawyer, so I’m not keen to enter into any speculation about culpability or otherwise.”
Cllr Hill recommended that meetings of the board were streamed to increase public and councillor participation.
The Regulator of Social Housing is looking at the situation and will make a judgement in coming weeks. The authority’s leader has acknowledged the report will not be a good one and that serious mistakes have been made.
As Cllr Brown was housing lead before he became leader of the council he should step aside and resign as this was all under his watch.
Anyone who has delt with NPH will not be shocked by this news. Any councillor who claims this is a shock shouldn't bother standing for re election as it is typical of the state of WNC. NPH is only the start. The Road cleaning department, Rubbish collections, Road Repairs are all in a similar position of work not getting done. It's interesting the portfolio managers have just noticed this before the next round of local elections. But lets be clear, this is also a failure of the opposition who haven't said anything. With the exception of a few dedicated councillors. .