Latest news with #BrentCouncil
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Housing regulator finds 'serious failings' in Brent Council
The housing regulator has highlighted "serious failings" by Brent Council in ensuring the health and safety of its tenants, including fire risk cases that had been closed despite not being completed. The north-west London authority referred itself to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in April after it "identified weaknesses" in how it followed up on completing housing repairs and said it had "let tenants down".The RSH's review focused on the safety and quality standard of Brent Council as a landlord and found "significant improvement" was council said it was "determined to improve the quality" of its homes and had "made real progress in recent months". 'High risk' Brent Council owns around 8,800 homes across London, most of which are under its direct management, alongside an additional 4,000 leasehold homes in blocks, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).The law requires councils to have up to date evidence of the condition of the homes under its management, as well as for necessary works to be carried out "within appropriate timescales".The LDRS found that within the last year, about 12,500 actions arising from fire risk assessments had been closed by the council. However, the council referred itself to the regulator after a spot check revealed that despite a case being closed "evidence of the completion of the actions was not available in all instances and some actions had not been completed at all". Most of these were deemed to be of a high and medium risk and were being treated as "overdue".The review by the RSH earlier this month revealed the data for fire safety, smoke and carbon monoxide safety, asbestos management and water safety "cannot be reconciled" and the council "is not able to determine which legally required checks and assessments have been completed".It also found that despite the council reporting it has condition data on 95% of its housing stock, almost half of its homes "have not had a recorded survey". 'Much more to do' The council "has plans in place" to understand the impact of its current position, according to the RSH judgement. These include working to understand the root causes of the problems, reviewing the completion of all closed fire safety actions and working to develop a suitable action plan to resolve the RSH judgement added: "We will continue to engage with [Brent Council] as it seeks to address the issues that have led to this judgement. "We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage but will keep this under review as [Brent Council] seeks to resolve these issues."Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Brent's cabinet member for housing and resident services, acknowledged there was "still much more to do".She said: "We take our responsibilities as a landlord very seriously and the council accepts that we have let tenants down and for this we apologise unreservedly."We will continue to work proactively, positively and in an open and transparent way with our residents and with the regulator to fix the issues identified."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Vigil for 'four beautiful souls' killed in fire
About 150 residents gathered for a prayer service in Brent, north London on Tuesday evening to remember a mother and three of her children who died in a house fire. Nusrat Usman, 43, her daughter Maryam Mikaiel, 15 and sons Musa Usman, eight, and Raees Usman, four, died when their home in Stonebridge went up in flames on Saturday morning. A 13-year-old girl, who has not been named, remains in hospital in a critical condition, while a woman in her 70s has been discharged. Local councillor Muhammed Butt told BBC London the tragedy had united the community. The vigil was held in the middle of the housing estate where the four lost their lives. Mr Butt, who is leader of Brent Council, told BBC London: "We are mourning the loss of four beautiful souls. "I live just around the corner, just across the road, and the community is so united. "Everyone knows one another so to have this tragedy you can see, you can feel the loss that people are feeling. "They care about one another, they look after one another and they care about everyone." Members of the community spoke about the loss of the family and how the father Ozzy was still coming to terms the tragedy. Eight fire engines and about 70 firefighters from stations across Wembley, Park Royal and Willesden were sent to tackle the blaze. A teddy bear and flowers were seen laid near the properties over the weekend. The London Fire Brigade said a woman and child were initially rescued from the second floor of one of the affected properties and received emergency care but were declared dead at the scene. Two more children were found inside the property and also declared dead, it added. One neighbour, who said the family had moved to the UK from Pakistan more than 20 years ago, told the BBC that after hearing smashing and screaming, she had gone out to find the building on fire. The Metropolitan Police said a man, 41, had been arrested on suspicion of murder outside the property. He has since been bailed and detained under the Mental Health Act. Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to Mother and three children who died in Brent fire named Murder arrest as mum and three children die in fire Metropolitan Police
Sky News
25-05-2025
- Sky News
Teenage girl remains in critical condition following deadly house fire
A 13-year-old girl remains in critical condition in hospital while a 71-year-old woman has been discharged following a deadly house fire in northwest London. A 43-year-old mother and three of her children - a 15-year-old girl, and two boys aged eight and four - died at the scene of the fire, which gutted two homes in Stonebridge, near Wembley, in the early hours of Saturday. A 41-year-old man was arrested at the scene and remains in custody. Neighbours said the family are of Pakistani origin and had lived in the area for a long time. Brent councillor Tariq Dar MBE named Usman Ghani, known as Ozzy, as the man who lost his wife and three children in the tragic fire and asked the community to keep the family in their "heartfelt duas (prayers) during this incredibly difficult time". He wrote on Facebook: "It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of the wife and three beloved children - a daughter and two young sons - of brother Usman Ghani in a tragic house fire in Wembley." Flowers and a blue teddy bear have been left near the scene, where crews wearing helmets and respiratory equipment were seen building scaffolding against the burnt-out buildings. Neighbour Cecilia Marquis, 60, said she was "stunned by the devastation". "This will leave a devastating impact," Ms Marquis, who witnessed the fire, said. Witness Mohamed Labidi, 38, said he "can't even look at the house right now". "We used to socialise together. "They're very good people, no problems on their side at all. It's really shocking. It's a really strong community here, we look after each other." A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: "It's horrible, we saw people running outside. "It's hard to process. I only just moved in, so it's hard to think about it." Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters responded to the blaze, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said. Two terrace houses, each with three floors, were severely damaged in the fire, which was under control by around 3.25am, the fire service added. Superintendent Steve Allen, from the Met's local policing team in northwest London, said: "My thoughts and the thoughts of all the emergency services are with the four people who died in the fire, as well as the two people who were taking to hospital. "Detectives from the Metropolitan Police are leading the investigation, and we are working closely with the London Fire Brigade to establish the cause of the fire." He added: "We remain in the early stages of our investigation, however, one man was arrested outside the house. He remains in custody and is being questioned by officers." "I remain in close contact with the London Fire Brigade and Metropolitan Police as they work to establish the cause of the fire and offer support to all those impacted."
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Brent Council: Resident offered £2k for housing delays
Brent Council has offered £2,050 in compensation to a resident due to delays in completing housing and medical woman, named as Miss X, complained she could not afford the north London property she was living in and it was "unsuitable for medical reasons".The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) found the council was at fault for taking six months to process the housing application and three months to make a medical assessment, the Local Democracy Reporting Service local authority admitted the woman "might have missed out on a suitable property" due to the delays and said it had made improvements to its processes. 'Caused injustice' Miss X applied for help with housing in the summer of 2023, however, it wasn't until March 2024, after she sent a complaint, that the council concluded she was eligible for applications should be determined within eight LGO's report said the "distress and uncertainty" to Miss X "caused injustice" and could have been council said it would also assess the resident's medical records in April, which it did not do and failed to contact her or send out May, the local authority accepted these were mistakes and offered her £400 in council later admitted it did not look at her medical information between May and October 2024, but had now decided that she should be in a higher housing band. The council said that, if it had not delayed, it "would have decided earlier that her property was not suitable for medical reasons", according to the council offered Miss X an additional £1,650 because the delays meant she was "distressed and anxious". Cabinet member for Housing and Residents Services, Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, said the council had "sincerely apologised" to Miss X for the "uncertainty and distress" added: "We have also reviewed our internal procedures and taken steps to strengthen them, to ensure that housing applications and medical assessments are handled promptly and in accordance with both legislation and council policy."The council has since offered Miss X a suitable property.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- BBC News
Brent Council makes £300,000 in driver fines in 17 days
A north London council raised more than £300,000 in 17 days from drivers who ignored or were unaware of restrictions during High Road in Brent was damaged by "leaky drainage systems" and pressure from vehicles using it, and was partly closed in January until the repair work was finished earlier this month.A Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to Brent Council revealed that 5,701 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued between 15 and 31 January due to violations of the council said it was "surprised" by the number of drivers who failed to take notice of the no-entry signage and used a lane that was only open to buses and emergency vehicles. Drivers were warned they faced a penalty of up to £130 for using the lane, reduced to £65 if paid within 14 the 17-day period in question, Brent Council generated £313,555 in revenue from PCNs, the Local Democracy Reporting Service it is understood that not all of the PCNs that were issued would have been paid during the 17-day period the FOI related to, so the true figure may be higher.A camera was in operation during the works with warning signs placed ahead of the restrictions, and where the restrictions were enforced, informing motorists of the no-entry Sheth, cabinet member for environment and enforcement at Brent Council, said: "Taking into account our extensive communication on the Wembley High Road upgrades, we are surprised at the number of motorists who decided to ignore the no-entry signage."We wrote letters to residents, installed several warning signs, ran billboard advertising campaigns locally, and had social media posts that got over one million views."Ms Sheth said the money raised through the PCNs had been ring-fenced for the funding of Freedom Passes, which provide free travel on almost all London public transport for eligible disabled residents and people aged 66 and works included digging up the full depth of the road's surface, building a new structure and resurfacing it, and repairing the existing drains.
