Rochdale MP, Tony Lloyd, tabled the following motion in Parliament yesterday in response to the report by the Regulator of Social Housing following its investigation into Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) after the death of Awaab Ishak. 

The motion reads, “That this House acknowledges the report by the Regulator of Social Housing following its investigation into Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) after the death of Awaab Ishak; is shocked by the report’s conclusions, including that there have been significant failures in the way RBH manages damp and mould in its homes, resulting in harm to tenants, that RBH waited nearly two years after Awaab Ishak died to check other homes on the estate where he lived, and that once RBH did finally check these homes they found that almost 80% of tenants there had signs of damp and mould; notes the very belated resignation of the board of RBH, who so signally failed to provide any adequate scrutiny of the actions of the Chief Executive; insists that any reconstituted board must be charged with the obvious importance of their role in making RBH accountable for protecting the interests and particularly the health of RBH tenants; notes that in the past there were local authority representatives on the board of RBH but these were removed; and believes that a strong role for elected members of the local authority is key to ensuring accountability and that social housing is maintained to an acceptable standard.” 

Tony said, “Awaab’s family are determined that Awaab’s fate should never befall another child, and we should join them in that.  

“The reality is social housing has been underfunded by the government since austerity was brought in. There must be doubts about the role of the regulator which has now produced a damning report but previously ticked off RBH as a ‘success’, but the major issue is the brutal failure of the RBH Board to make senior RBH management accountable.  

“That must never happen again, and Michael Gove must work with local MPs and Rochdale Borough Council to ensure that there is a supervisory board capable of supporting change but providing transparent challenge into the future.  

“What goes for RBH applies to other social housing operators up and down the land.” 

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—Ends— 

Notes for editors: 

The full text of the motion and a list of signatories can be found here.