A “refusal” to hold a public meeting on the discovery of crumbling concrete in council and former council homes in West Lothian has been criticised by a Labour councillor.
Many constituents still have questions following what were described as “cut and paste” letters sent to tenants in Bathgate and other areas after surveys for RAAC were completed.
This week local housing officers defended the way tenants had been dealt with and urged tenants to make contacts with housing officers if they had concerns.
But Harry Cartmill told local housing managers he was “very disappointed” that his request had been “overruled”.
Local Housing manager Graeme McKee offered reassurance that the completion of the survey had revealed all the RAAC affected homes, adding that the council ” don’t feel that there are any others that are going to come out.”
Councillor Cartmill told a meeting of the town’s local area committee: “I have had numerous enquiries about it and I contacted the head of service, Julie Whitelaw, to ask for a public meeting.
“I felt the best way forward was a public meeting with officers sitting there to be able to answer any questions.
“It was the right thing to do I think but I was denied that meeting and I’m very disappointed with that, I must say.
“I get left, as my colleagues, do to try and answer questions that we professionally don’t have the knowledge to do so. What do I say to these constituents, because they want a public meeting with council officers. Council officers have said that’s not happening?
Mr McKee told the meeting: “If they are council tenants any concerns can be answered by contacting their housing officer. If we don’t have the answer we’ll certainly go to housing strategy and development [staff] and get the answer.
“If it’s owner occupiers, I’m told that the council stance on that is that they’ll need to contact their home insurance.”
Councillor Cartmill replied: ” They’re not happy about that, let me tell you.”
After the meeting councillor Cartmill told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: ” I’ve been contacted by owner occupiers and tenants who reside in the Sylvan Way / Dalling Road area whose homes have been identified as having RAAC in the roof construction – there were a number of questions asked after an impersonal letter sent to them by the council was described by some as a council ‘copy and paste exercise'”
He added that he was deeply disappointed at the refusal and asked “what happened to the council’s values cited on the front of all council reports”
He was referring to the opening statement on all council papers which outlines core values as: “Being caring and compassionate; Open, honest and accountable, collaborative, inclusive and adaptive.”
Councillor Cartmill added: “As always council officers can overrule councillors so I’m left sending another info sheet from council to concerned constituents who ( no doubt ) will get back to me with further questions.
“A public meeting would have been the best solution, and indeed, the right thing to do in my view.”
A spokesperson for the council told the LDRS: “We have already advised all council tenants and private homeowners where we are aware of the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in houses.
“For council tenants in the Bathgate ward area, this represents 34 homes and one shared block, which represents only 0.25% of council homes, and we are already engaging directly with the small number of tenants affected.
“The information the council holds relates solely to council tenants and their properties. Sharing this very specific information has the potential to cause confusion among homeowners, as it could be misinterpreted as pertaining to their own properties, so we do not plan to hold a public meeting.
“Details of where homeowners can find professional support is available on our website at www.westlothian.gov.uk/raac-council-housing.
“Further information and guidance to help homeowners effectively maintain and repair their own properties is also available at www.westlothian.gov.uk/article/44705/Scheme-of-Assistance.”
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