The 5 December meeting of the Housing and Regeneration Policy and Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to include reports on a finding of severe maladministration by the Housing Ombudsman Service, and the challenges faced by the Council in implementing regeneration schemes.

Housing Ombudsman Finding of Severe Maladministration

The Committee was scheduled to note the findings of a report from the Housing Ombudsman Service, which found severe maladministration in the way that Westminster Council dealt with a resident's reports of leaks from their roof, and to scrutinise the actions the Council was taking to ensure it learned from its mistakes. The Ombudsman ordered the Council to pay £6,900 compensation to the residents of the affected property, a three-bedroom terraced house. The Ombudsman's report states that the leaks had been ongoing since October 2021 and that the resident first complained formally about the leaks in October 2022. It goes on to say that:

From the evidence available to this service, it is clear that the resident spent unreasonable time chasing the landlord for updates, dealing with contractors, and attempting to drive the repairs forward. There was a lack of ownership over the repair and an evident lack of clarity regarding the status of repairs, what has been done and established, and what actions would be taken next to ensure the repair is effective and long-lasting.

The Ombudsman's report can be read in full here: Appendix A - Ombudsman Report - 202331494.

A case review was scheduled to be discussed, which highlighted that the Council had failed to diagnose the cause of the leaks, that contractors had taken a task driven approach to repairs without understanding the root cause of the issues, and that there was insufficient monitoring of repeated reports. The case review goes on to state that:

The overarching mistake here was a lack of project management. What should have happened was that a diagnosis should have been made and remedial works should have stemmed from this.

The Council's response to the case review included an action plan, in which the Council set out a number of actions it was taking to prevent the same failures from happening again. The full case review, with action plan, can be found here: Appendix B - Severe Maladministration - Case Review and Action Plan.

Regeneration Schemes

The Committee was scheduled to receive a report on the challenges that Westminster City Council faces in implementing regeneration schemes, and to consider how the Council can ensure that its schemes produce high-quality, cohesive outcomes. The report focused on two specific regeneration schemes: Ebury Phase 1 and 300 Harrow Road.

Ebury Bridge Estate

The report states that the Ebury Bridge Estate was identified as one of five estates in need of significant investment in the Council's 2010 renewal strategy. The report describes how the Council's original plans to redevelop the estate, drawn up in 2013, ultimately failed after the Council was unable to find a development partner. The Council then had to draw up new plans for the estate, which were met with resistance from residents who were concerned about gentrification.

The report goes on to describe how the Council worked with residents to develop new proposals for the estate, which were approved by residents in a ballot. The report highlights a number of lessons learned from the Ebury Bridge Estate scheme, including the importance of meaningful, consistent and early engagement with residents, and the need for resident capacity building and co-design.

The report also states that a number of steps were taken to ensure cohesive outcomes at the estate, including the establishment of a strategic resident body, called the Community Futures Group, the agreement of a set of key pledges with residents, and the use of a variety of communication methods to ensure that information was accessible to all sections of the community.

300 Harrow Road

The report describes how the Council's commitment to its Net Zero Carbon policy meant that the heating and cooling system at 300 Harrow Road had to be redesigned during the construction period. The gas-fired boiler system originally specified for the scheme was replaced with an innovative electric powered ambient loop air-sourced heat pump solution. The report notes that this change required significant design changes to the flats and commercial units at 300 Harrow Road, as well as an updated metering and billing strategy.

The report highlights the lessons learned from the 300 Harrow Road scheme, including the need for a Planned Preventative Maintenance contract with the installing contractors to cover the defects period of the main contract, and the need to ensure that handover to the Housing Maintenance department is smooth and effective.

The report also highlights the cohesive outcomes achieved at the scheme, including the positive reaction of the Council's Development Team, the contractor Wilmott Dixon, and the professional design team to the change in policy, and the willingness of all parties to minimise the cost increases and programme delays caused by the change.