Southwark Council estate repairs '£6m over budget'
The long-awaited investigation comes almost two years after residents first raised concerns about the cost of and delay to the works, as well as numerous poor repairs, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.Residents told the council's overview and scrutiny committee in November 2023 there had been "shoddy" repair work, from poorly installed windows which did not close properly to half-finished paint jobs they were expected to foot the bill for.
In June 2020, a contract was awarded to Durkan Limited to carry out major works at Canada Estate, including asbestos removal, front entrance door replacements and window replacements, which were to be completed over a period of 60 weeks at a cost of £4.2m.However the project ended up taking 72 extra weeks and costs increased by more than £2.1m due to the scope of the works changing.In April 2020, Engie Regeneration Limited was awarded a contract worth £5.6m to carry out works lasting 62 weeks at Devon Mansions including fire safety improvements and kitchen and bathroom replacements.The cost of the major works increased by a further £4.1m with the project taking an extra 102 weeks.A third project on the Kirby Estate also experienced significant delays, with costs increasing by £167,000.
In November 2023, a "task and finishing team" was established to carry out an internal review of the work at Devon Mansions and the Canada Estate and a second review for the Kirby Estate.Sam Dalton told this week's meeting: "Since we have become the ward councillors for London Bridge and West Bermondsey, a year and a half before that we had gained a clear picture of just how catastrophic the failings have been and just how much residents had been let down."[Residents] were spending countless online major works meetings where [they] simply weren't getting the answers and therefore initiating the investigation seemed the only solution to us."Emily Hickson, who represents the same ward, said council officers did not understand nor investigate concerns raised by residents.
Hakeem Osinaike, the council's strategic director of housing, apologised to residents across the three estates and said although most of the issues had been addressed, it did not take away the fact that the council should have done better in the first place."I have been very, very clear to my colleagues that there will be a genuine explanation of what went wrong and lessons learned to ensure the mistakes found are never repeated," he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The ultra-wealthy have exploited Australia's tax system for too long. It's time to ensure everyone pays their fair share
Unions want to tackle intergenerational inequality by reforming Australia's tax system. For the first time in living memory, younger Australians risk facing lower living standards than those before them. This is not acceptable to the union movement, so our one big idea is to rebalance the tax system so that productivity gains are fairly shared, housing becomes more affordable, and essential services are properly funded. Australia's current tax system is exploited by big business and the ultra-wealthy, entrenching intergenerational inequality and placing affordable housing out of young workers' reach, which threatens the services and infrastructure we all rely on. We need a minimum 25% tax on gas export revenues, a minimum 25% tax for trust funds and individuals earning more than $1m, and a one investment property limit for negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount benefits, with the grandfathering of current arrangements for five years. These changes have a simple intention: to make sure everyone pays their fair share, so productivity gains flow across society fairly. These proposed reforms would help restore fairness and opportunity for young Australians to get ahead in their lives. For the past 25 years, productivity increases have gone back into company profits, shareholder dividends, share buybacks and executive bonuses. Working people know that every time they check their bank accounts, there is no 'direct debit system' where the extra profits generated by increased productivity are automatically shared with them. Australia is a rich country but, for decades, as the 'economic pie' has got bigger, corporations have not just taken their own bigger slice, they have been eating into ours. The way to stop this is to make sure workers have strong rights at work to get the pay rises they deserve and to make sure our tax system ensures everyone – not just the ordinary worker – pays their fair share of taxes. There are flaws in our tax system that disadvantage younger Australians and reinforce inter-generational inequity. Just 1% of taxpayers own 25% of investment properties, fuelling house prices, skyrocketing rents and putting home ownership out of reach. House prices have gone up at twice the rate of wages in the last 25 years. The result? Workers can no longer afford to live near their jobs, while young people face high rents and are priced out of buying homes. It is true that housing supply needs to increase, but the tax system is adding to the affordability problem and that needs to change. The loudest complaints will come from those who have gamed the system to accumulate enormous economic and political power. Australia's economy is dominated by an artificially inflated property market, in addition a small number of large companies in a small number of industries. Claims that working people will automatically be better off if productivity increases are wrong. Dr Jim Stanford's recent paper on productivity shows that if real wages had grown at the same rate of productivity since 2000, average wages would be 18% – or $350 per week – higher than they are now. What you won't hear from big business is the real reason productivity growth in Australia has been slow: they have prioritised distributing profits rather than investing in capital, research and people. Workers' rights are not 'red tape', they are the way we get pay rises and limits on working hours. They are essential to workers benefiting from the productivity gains our hard work creates. If we take them away, workers will get even less. Our proposed reforms are targeted and achievable. These are simple changes that close loopholes and restore balance, because we recognise that the problem isn't everyday investors who are looking to build a nest egg with a housing investment, the problem is that the current tax system rewards investing in housing as an asset class so the richest mega-investors are accumulating a large number of properties, tying up capital that could be invested in things that contribute to productivity growth and forcing property prices up beyond what any ordinary working person can afford. Working people pay their fair share of tax, we just want everyone else to as well. Ninety-one people with an income over $1m paid no income tax in 2022-23. Not one cent! When the very wealthy pay less tax than a bus driver or an aged care worker, something is very wrong. Trust funds have also become tax minimisation schemes for rich people, and mega-profitable resource companies are also getting away with paying little or no corporate tax. Our proposals are about ensuring the economy works for those who actually keep it running: working people. Sally McManus is a trade unionist and political activist who has served as the secretary of the Australia Council of Trade Unions since 2017
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Britain will not bail out bioethanol industry hit by Trump trade deal
LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Britain's government will not provide financial support to the struggling bioethanol industry, it said on Friday, leaving a sector hit hard by the UK's tariff deal with U.S. President Donald Trump facing imminent collapse. The failure of the industry, which supports thousands of jobs, could prove to be an embarrassment for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who hailed May's trade deal as a boost to businesses that would protect employment and attract investment. It would also serve as a stark example of the global impacts of Trump's assault on world trade, with the industry's collapse set to deal a blow to production of byproducts including animal feed and carbon dioxide as well as the British farmers who supply the sector. "We ... have taken the difficult decision not to offer direct funding as it would not provide value for the taxpayer or solve the long-term problems the industry faces," a government spokesman said on Friday. The spokesperson said the trade deal had protected hundreds of thousands of jobs in the auto and aerospace industries. However, under the agreement, the UK's 19% tariffs on U.S. ethanol fell to zero, through a 1.4 billion-litre (370 million gallon) quota - a figure equating to the size of the UK's entire ethanol market. Britain has two major bioethanol plants in northern England - Associated British Foods' (ABF.L), opens new tab Vivergo plant and one operated by Ensus, owned by Germany's Sudzucker Group - which account for nearly all of its production capacity. AB Foods, which had said in June it would shutter the Vivergo plant unless the government stepped in with an aid package, said on Friday it would start an orderly closure process immediately with production of bioethanol and animal feed ceasing by August 31. Ensus has also said its plant faces closure. Bioethanol is produced from crops such as wheat and is used to make petrol greener and to produce sustainable aviation fuel. In June, Starmer's government launched its industrial strategy, promising to invest in the green economy. Both AB Foods and Ensus have said the trade deal, along with existing regulations that already gave U.S. producers an advantage in the British market, had made the environment impossible. "It is deeply regrettable that the Government has chosen not to support a key national asset," a spokesperson for AB Foods said, adding that the decision threw away Britain's sovereign capability in clean fuels. "Jobs in clean energy will now move overseas - principally to the U.S. but also to other countries with a more sensible regulatory environment," the spokesperson added. Ensus did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The government spokesperson said it would work up proposals that ensure the resilience of the supply of carbon dioxide, which is used in the soft drinks and nuclear industries and in hospitals.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
StanChart shares fall 7% after U.S. lawmaker calls for probe
LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Shares in Standard Chartered (STAN.L), opens new tab fell 7% on Friday after a U.S. Republican lawmaker wrote to the Attorney General Pam Bondi asking for action to be taken against the bank over alleged "ongoing sanctions evasion". Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, requested in a letter shared on the X social media platform and published on her website that a special attorney be appointed to look into Standard Chartered's alleged failings. Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The bank's shares, which had been about 1.5% lower earlier on Friday, plunged and were last down 7% at 1433 GMT. One trader linked the share move to the letter. Like other European lenders, Standard Chartered's stock has risen sharply this year and hit a near 12-year high earlier this week.
