Council bosses last night refused to “speculate” on “what went wrong” with their electrical safety testing programme. Admitting that the situation “wasn’t good enough”, they also apologised
to residents for failing to meet standards.

At the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, councillors grilled the Cabinet Member and Director of Housing over the referral to the Regulator of Social Housing over the issue. Liberal Democrat
councillors repeatedly pushed them on the question of how, in the light of the Grenfell fire being caused by an electrical fault, the council could find themselves in this position.

They also challenged the commitment to fire safety previously outlined by council leaders, including current leader Cllr Kieron Williams, who had said that there was “no complacency” during
his stint as Housing Cabinet Member. Current finance chief Cllr Stephanie Cryan had also said it was a “high priority” for the council when she held the housing portfolio. The Liberal Democrats say that this latest failing exposes these sentiments as empty
words.

Council bosses attributed the referral to an insufficiently broad testing programme. However, they could not explain why the programme’s scope was limited, as neither were in their current
roles when the decision was made.

Concerns were also raised about the fact the council does not proactively enforce the same standards in the Private Rented Sector, despite that being within their gift to do so.

The Council Director of Housing also admitted for the first time that the regulator had selected Southwark to conduct a wider inspection under its new powers, in addition to the self-referral
on this specific issue. In December 2023, Southwark Liberal Democrats wrote to the Regulator of Social Housing to ask that they put Southwark on the top of its list for an inspection due to multiple failings across the housing department.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Overview and Scrutiny Committee Member Cllr Victor Chamberlain said:

“Following the Grenfell tragedy, Southwark Labour bosses promised fire safety was a top priority. Disgracefully it’s been proven that was not the case.

This is yet another a damning indictment of the council’s failing housing department. It’s outrageous that no one can even explain how we reached this point, and casts serious
doubt on the council’s ability to learn from its failures or to fix them. Labour’s empty promises on housing and safety have again been exposed as nothing but spin”