A recent audit report has revealed how tenants across Canterbury, Thanet, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe have been left at risk for years by a housing contractor.
The report back in June 2019, scrutinised a number of maintenance areas and thousands of outdated safety assessments which were not carried out by the Kent contractor. The report showed a total of 544 council properties across East Kent and 125 in Canterbury had not been ruled legally safe to use.
The risks identified were related to Fire and Lighting Safety, Legionella, Electrical Safety and Lift Safety. The recent report has confirmed the extent of the contractor's failings which include:
Fire and Lighting Safety
- 800 issues identified - fire risk assessments
- No action had been taken to fix 2,000 faulty emergency lights
- "Failing to provide occupants of the building with a safe means of escape"
Legionella
- 1,916 Recommendations made of Legionella risk assessments
- 930 were categorised as high risk and date back to 2016
Electrical Safety
- 230 unsatisfactory hazards identified
- A number of faults where there was a risk of injury were identified back in 2016
- No improvements have been made over the 3 year period
Lift Safety
- Lifts in each district were deemed unsafe with some not examined for 18 months even when regulations stipulate six-monthly checks
- Tests revealed more than half of the 48 lifts did not descend to the ground floor when the fire alarm was activated
- Concerns were raised back in 2014, little has been done to improve the situation in the 5 years since
The recent damning report shows the awful legacy which the contractors will be potentially leaving along with a huge backlog of work for the Council to complete in order to satisfy the safety regulations.
