Regulatory Notice: Babergh District Council (30 January 2023)
Published 30 January 2023
Applies to England
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RSH Regulatory Notice
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Provider: Babergh District Council
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Registration number: 42UB
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Publication date: 30 January 2023
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Reason for publication: Consumer Standards
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Regulatory route: Reactive Engagement
Other providers included in the judgement
None
Regulatory Findings
The regulator has concluded that:
a) Babergh District Council (Babergh DC) has breached part 1.2 of the Home Standard; and
b) As a consequence of this breach, there was the potential for serious detriment to Babergh DC tenants.
The regulator will work with Babergh DC as it seeks to remedy this breach.
The issue
Babergh DC made a self-referral to the regulator in November 2022 as it had identified a failure to meet statutory health and safety requirements in some of its homes. Babergh DC told us it had not completed gas and electrical safety checks for every property which needed one, and that it had not completed communal asbestos surveys for every communal block requiring one.
Our investigation
As a registered provider, Babergh DC is required to comply with the consumer standards, including the Home Standard. The Home Standard requires registered providers to meet all applicable statutory requirements that provide for the health and safety of tenants in their homes and to have a cost-effective repairs and maintenance service.
In respect of electrical safety, Babergh DC is required to ensure that electrical installations are in working and safe condition both at the start of any tenancy and throughout that tenancy.[footnote 1] The Council has reported to us that more than 150 domestic properties do not have a current electrical condition report.
For asbestos safety,[footnote 2] the evidence provided to the regulator showed that Babergh DC did not have valid communal asbestos surveys for all its communal blocks. The Council reported over 70 (over 70%) of re-inspection asbestos surveys were overdue.
With regards to gas safety, Babergh DC has a statutory duty[footnote 3] to complete gas safety inspections annually for all relevant properties with inspections carried out by a Gas Safe engineer. Our investigation found that more than 150 properties had not received a gas safety inspection within the statutory timeframe.
The regulator considered the case as a potential breach of part 1.2 of the Home Standard and has concluded that Babergh DC did not have an effective system in place to allow it to meet its statutory health and safety responsibilities across a range of areas, and to demonstrate that it was compliant across these areas.
Complying with statutory health and safety requirements is a fundamental responsibility of all registered providers because of the potential for serious harm to tenants. Babergh DC has demonstrated to the regulator that it now understands the work it needs to undertake to ensure the required statutory checks and relevant safety actions are completed. However, taking into account the seriousness of the issues, the duration for which tenants were exposed to risk, and the number of tenants potentially affected, the regulator has concluded that Babergh DC has breached the Home Standard and that there was a risk of serious detriment to tenants during this period.
Our engagement
Section 198A of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (as amended) states that the regulator’s regulatory and enforcement powers may be used if a registered provider has failed to meet a consumer standard. In order to use regulatory or enforcement powers, as well as the failure to meet the standard, there should also be reasonable grounds to suspect that the failure has resulted in a serious detriment to the provider’s tenants (or potential tenants) or that there is a significant risk that, if no action is taken by the regulator, the failure will result in a serious detriment to the provider’s tenants (or potential tenants).
Babergh DC has started to put in place an urgent programme to rectify these failures and the regulator will therefore not take statutory action at this stage, as it has assurance that the breach of the standard is being remedied. The regulator will work with Babergh DC as it continues to address the issues which have led to this situation, including ongoing monitoring of how it delivers its health and safety programme.
About our Regulatory Notices
Regulatory notices are issued in response to an event of regulatory importance (for example, a finding of a breach of the Rent Standard or of a consumer standard that has or may cause serious harm) that, in accordance with its obligation to be transparent, the regulator wishes to make public. More detail about Regulatory notices is set out in Regulating the Standards.