'Serious failings' with council's social housing

There were "serious failings" in the way a council allocated housing and treated its tenants, inspectors have found.

The Regulator of Social Housing said it was not assured Slough Borough Council's housing service allocated homes in a "fair and transparent way" and found recent evidence of "serious tenancy fraud".

Its report said the authority, which owns almost 6,000 homes, needed to make "significant improvement" but acknowledged it had "recently put in place more effective controls and oversight for allocations".

The council said it wanted to put "tenants back at the heart of our service" and hoped improvements would be apparent soon.

Inspectors said there were serious problems in the county's approach to complaint handling and tenant engagement activity.

The report noted the authority had a "good understanding of the condition of its homes".

It also said it was "meeting all legal requirements" relating to the health and safety of tenants, except electrical and fire safety where hundred of certificates and risk assessments were overdue, with "limited engagement with tenants around building safety".

The regulator awarded Slough Borough Council a C3 grade which is just one higher than the worst possible grade.

Robert Stedmond, the councillor responsible for housing, said the authority would use the inspection to help it improve.

"Our aim is to put our tenants back at the heart of our service, engaging with them and listening to them to do much better and delivering the standards they deserve," he said.

"We have been increasing the capacity and resources within the housing team and we will be using the results of this inspection to re-engage with our tenants as we implement plans to improve our services."

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