Withdrawn Regulatory Notice: Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (28 July 2021)
Updated 25 January 2023
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-judgement-welwyn-hatfield-borough-council/regulatory-notice-welwyn-hatfield-borough-council-28-july-2021
Withdrawn on 25 January 2023: The issues giving rise to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council’s Regulatory Notice have been resolved.
RSH Regulatory Notice
- Provider: Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
- Regulatory code: 26UL
- Publication date: 28 July 2021
- Governance grade: N/A
- Viability grade: N/A
- Reason for publication: Consumer Standards
- Regulatory route: Reactive Engagement
Other providers included in the judgement
None
Regulatory Finding
The regulator has concluded that:
a) Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (Welwyn Hatfield BC) 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 Welwyn Hatfield BC’s tenants.
The regulator will work with Welwyn Hatfield BC as it seeks to remedy this breach and will continue to consider what further action should be taken.
The Case
As a local authority registered provider, Welwyn Hatfield BC is required to comply with the consumer standards, including the Home Standard. The Home Standard requires registered providers to have a cost-effective repairs and maintenance service and to meet all applicable statutory requirements that provide for the health and safety of tenants in their homes.
Welwyn Hatfield BC self-referred itself to the regulator in respect of this matter, and our assessment of the information received is that the Council has failed to meet statutory health and safety requirements in relation to fire, water, electrical and asbestos safety.
In respect of fire safety, Welwyn Hatfield BC has a statutory duty [footnote 1] to regularly assess the risk of fire and to take precautions to prevent the risk of fire. In this regard the regulator has learned that around 90% of applicable buildings had an overdue fire risk assessment (FRA). There were also thousands of remedial actions identified in FRAs carried out in 2018 that had not been completed, around half of which had been given the highest risk rating and needed to be done immediately, or as soon as reasonably practical.
With regard to electrical safety, Welwyn Hatfield BC 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 2] Welwyn Hatfield BC has reported that hundreds of its properties have never been inspected and a smaller number were inspected over ten years ago and the lack of recent inspections means the Council failed to have an assurance they were suitably maintained. For asbestos safety, [footnote 3] the evidence provided by Welwyn Hatfield BC shows that over a hundred re-inspections and reviews of communal areas were overdue. The evidence also shows that with regards to water safety, [footnote 4] hundreds of properties did not have a compliant Legionella Risk Assessment (LRA). The Council was yet to establish whether a similar number of properties required an LRA. For these reasons, the regulator concluded that Welwyn Hatfield BC has breached the Home Standard, and as consequence, there was the potential for serious detriment to tenants.
Since identifying these issues, Welwyn Hatfield BC has been working with an external consultant to develop and implement an action plan in order to strengthen its systems and return to a compliance. It has also looked to strengthen its housing compliance team. A programme of work has commenced, and we have been assured by Welwyn Hatfield BC that it has taken immediate and appropriate action to ensure the safety of tenants while the programme is being delivered.
The Regulator’s Findings
The regulator considered the case as a potential breach of part 1.2 of the Home Standard and has concluded that Welwyn Hatfield BC did not have an effective system in place to allow it to meet its statutory health and safety responsibilities across a range of 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. Welwyn Hatfield BC has demonstrated to the regulator the progress it is making to ensure the required statutory checks, and relevant safety actions, are completed, and that appropriate mitigations are in place in the meantime. However, taking into account the seriousness of the issues, the durations for which tenants were potentially exposed to risk, and the number of tenants potentially affected, the regulator has concluded that it is proportionate to find that Welwyn Hatfield BC has breached the Home Standard and that there was a risk of serious detriment to tenants during this period.
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).
Welwyn Hatfield BC has put in place a programme to rectify these failures and is making progress. 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 the Council as it continues to address the issues which have led to this situation, including ongoing monitoring of how it delivers its 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.’
Key to Grades
Governance:
- G1 (Compliant): The provider meets our governance requirements
- G2 (Compliant): The provider meets our governance requirements but needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance
- G3 (Non-compliant): The provider does not meet our governance requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and in agreement with us the provider is working to improve its position.
- G4 (Non-compliant): The provider does not meet our governance requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and the provider is subject to regulatory intervention or enforcement action.
Viability:
- V1 (Compliant): The provider meets our viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.
- V2 (Compliant): The provider meets our viability requirements. It has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios but needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance.
- V3 (Non-compliant): The provider does not meet our viability requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and, in agreement with us, the provider is working to improve its position.
- V4 (Non-compliant): The provider does not meet our viability requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and the provider is subject to regulatory intervention or enforcement action.