A council leader has apologised after a mum and her two vulnerable children were left with damp and mould in their home for several months.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been ordered by the Housing Ombudsman to pay £1,000 compensation to the resident, who said the damp was affecting her daughter's acute asthma.

The Ombudsman found "severe maladministration" in how the authority had handled the tenant's complaint. She first raised issues in 2020 and reported that she was still facing difficulties in getting repairs completed in 2022.

The authority is now under a different administration following the May elections. And new council leader Jane Ashworth described the Ombudsman's ruling as a "sad and disappointing day for the council" at Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

She said: "We fully apologise for the failings. It fell far below the standard we expect for our tenants and that we should uphold.

"The council was found by the Ombudsman to not take the tenant seriously enough and did not manage her complaint in a full and proper manner. The council should have done better and saved the tenant the trouble of worrying about damp and mould and going to the Ombudsman.

Council leader, Jane Ashworth, described the Ombudsman's ruling as a 'sad and disappointing day for the council' (LDRS).

"This administration takes the finding of the Ombudsman very seriously. Councils will get things wrong, but it's important we put things right and that's what we are going to do now.

"We will listen to residents and make changes when changes are due. I am delighted to say we have made a start in changing the way the council does business and one of the things we are talking about today is changing the way the council sorts out the problem of poor housing stock.

"There is a proposal to spend £117m on improving our council housing stock over the next five years. These improvements will make our properties more energy efficient and deal with chronic problems too many of our properties have."

Councillor Chris Robinson, cabinet member for housing, said: "It should be noted that the case referred to is historic, being more than three years old, and occurred under a previous administration. There have been no recorded complaints since.

"However, this does not excuse the poor response that the complainant had received and we apologise fully for this. It fell below the standards expected of our teams and standards that our customers expect us to deliver.

"We welcome the learning from the Housing Ombudsman and can report that a thorough review process has helped us to identify a raft of improvements which are now being embedded in the services we deliver. As a new administration we have pledged to raise housing standards in the city and ensure our services are continuously improved.

"In fewer than 100 days since taking on the leadership of the council, we have put in place a new repairs and maintenance policy, a policy for managing properties that become empty to ensure they are more energy efficient and brought back into use as soon as possible, and we're consulting on a new policy specifically to address damp and mould. We are talking with tenants on so that we can drive up the quality of accommodation for residents now and before the colder weather arrives this year.

"Our improvements also include technical training so that workers understand the potential health impacts of damp and mould on vulnerable residents, a thorough review of complaint handling processes and the need for accurate and timely record keeping of work carried out, good communication and a focus on resolving issues for residents at the earliest opportunity. No-one should be living in damp and mouldy conditions and we take the health and wellbeing of our tenants seriously."

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READ MORE: Over 14,000 council houses in Stoke-on-Trent to benefit from £117 million investment 

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