Michael Gove has said it 'beggars belief' that the chief executive of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing is still in his job following the death of Awaab Ishak.
The Secretary of State for Housing described the two-year-old's death in December 2020 as an 'unacceptable tragedy' after a coroner concluded that it was brought on by prolonged exposure to mould at his home on Rochdale's Freehold estate.
Rochdale Coroners Court heard that Awaab's dad Faisal Abdullah, who came to the UK as a refugee from Sudan in 2015, had not experienced mould before autumn 2017. When he showed a picture of 'black dots' in his home to a worker at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), he was told to 'paint over it', in advice described by Ms Kearsley as 'not clear or effective'.
READ MORE: Actions leading to Awaab Ishak's death were 'unacceptable', Downing Street says
Concerns were raised to RBH in a letter from health visitor Caroline Ridley in July 2020, while a legal claim had been submitted by the family a month earlier. Mark Wrigley, technical inspector at RBH, visited the property on July 14 and listed repairs that needed carrying out.
But the work was not done, with a policy at RBH meaning they would not carry out remedial works without the go-ahead from the family's solicitor, and Ms Kearsley said this work 'should have been undertaken'. The coroner also criticised RBH for blaming the family's 'lifestyle' for the mould and failing to identify a lack of ventilation to prevent moisture at the property.
Speaking about Awaab’s death on Tuesday, Mr Gove said he had summoned the head of the housing association concerned to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
“This is an unacceptable tragedy,” he said. In a pooled clip for broadcasters, Mr Gove said local authorities and housing associations could not blame a lack of government funding for the child’s death.
“We all know that local authorities are facing challenging times when it comes to finance but, frankly, that is no excuse,” he said.
“When you have got a situation where you have a young child in a house that is unfit for human habitation, it is a basic responsibility of the local authority – but particularly the housing association – to make sure that people are in decent homes."
“All this what-aboutery, all this ‘Oh, if only we had more government money’ – do your job, man.”
In a statement after the hearing, the youngster’s family said: “We cannot tell you how many health professionals we’ve cried in front and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing staff we have pleaded to, expressing concern for the conditions ourselves and Awaab have been living in.
“We shouted out as loudly as we could, but despite making all of those efforts, every night we would be coming back to the same problem.”
They said they were left feeling “absolutely worthless” by RBH and alleged they were treated that way because they are not from the UK.
Mr Gove said the Government is bringing forward legislation to ensure housing associations responsible for providing social housing are “held to account”, adding that there is “no way” a child in a house with such damp and mould “can be considered to be in a decent home”.
“The standards the housing association should have upheld have been breached and that is why I have asked the guy in charge to come to this department to explain himself.”
Gareth Swarbrick, chief executive of RBH, this evening confirmed that he had received a letter from Mr Gove and said he would "meet to discuss his concerns at the earliest opportunity".
Speaking earlier today, Mr Swarbrick said Awaab’s death should be a “wake-up call for everyone in housing, social care and health”.
He said: “We have and will continue to learn hard lessons from this.
“We didn’t recognise the level of risk to a little boy’s health from the mould in the family’s home. We allowed a legal disrepair process, widely used in the housing sector, to get in the way of promptly tackling the mould.
“We must make sure this can never happen again.”
In her findings, coroner Joanne Kearsley described Awaab as “an engaging, lively, endearing two-year-old”.
She said the issues raised in Awaab's inquest were 'not simply a Rochdale problem', as she warned his death should be a 'defining moment' for the housing sector.
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