Code of silence in face of poverty and home seizure

Published: 19 March 2010

I HAVE just been to an Islington Leaseholders Association (ILA) meeting for the first time, and was not surprised at the anger shown towards our highly-paid councillors. 

The meeting felt that the complacency shown by councillors will put many people into poverty, culminating in the repossession of their homes, because of bad management by Homes for Islington and its contractors. 

These contractors simply sub-contract work out while making huge profits.

The meeting went on to discuss the Audit Commission’s report on Islington Council. The report showed that a third of the council’s resources scored in the bottom two grades, and met only the minimum requirements. It also highlighted that its contract management had got a “no assurance” opinion, based on an absence of a reliable control framework. 

This was so serious that it is now being investigated by the anti-fraud department to try to recover duplicate payments made to contractors.

Finally, there was a discussion on the Office of Fair Trading report on the nine Islington contractors heavily fined for price-rigging. The council’s response was that, if contractors promised not to price-rig as a means of getting contracts, then they could be part of the selection assessment. 

I find this process rather strange, and this policy of forgive and forget unacceptable. What message does it send to contractors when they compete for work?

ILA confirmed it will put forward candidates at the local elections as independents, and will encourage other grassroots organisations to do the same. Let’s have transparency and accountability – not party politics with a code of silence by councillors.

PJ Leamy
Bingfield Street, N1

I AM a leaseholder living in a street property in Upper Holloway. I have just been through 19 weeks of hell with contractors carrying out minor repairs and painting the exterior of the house where I live on the ground floor. It’s still not over as the scaffolding remains up despite everything being finished last Thursday. I was told it was coming down on Saturday but of course that did not happen.

I hope the Tribune can highlight the misery that leaseholders and tenants have to go through. I will be receiving a huge bill for this horrible experience.

Moira McVeigh 
N19