Good afternoon Mr Jewkes,

I have reviewed the Freedom of Information Request you have referred to, and have noted that this was received on Sunday 24 September and so this was accepted into our system on 25 September. As a result, the due date for the response is today. I have contacted our colleagues in the relevant department, and they have advised that they will endeavour to respond to you today.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you.

Kind regards,

The FOI Team.

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Dear Mr Jewkes

I have been asked to respond to your Freedom of Information Request. The following is the information that we have available.

1 The information we have about housing applicants reflects the criteria and banding in our Lettings Scheme policy. 75 applicants have a medical condition that is a need for housing; 19 have a welfare need for housing; 4 applicants have expressed a need for level access; 47 applicants have expressed a need for ground floor accommodation.

2 All allocations are made in accordance with the Council's published Lettings Scheme. This is a legal duty. It is not a discretionary decision. Each week the Council advertises its vacant properties and invites bids from housing register applicants. Labels are allocated to properties in accordance with the Lettings Scheme - particularly the section called 'Making the Best Use of Stock'. The bidding window is open from Wednesday to Wednesday. When the window is closed a short list of applicants is provided from the software system. Properties are let in Band and date order in accordance with the Lettings Scheme.

3 The Housing Options and Lettings Team do not make decisions about applicants' disabilities. The Options Team receive information from applicants about their circumstances and assess them against the Lettings Scheme banding criteria. The Lettings Scheme match applicants with vacant properties in accordance with band and date criteria and considerations for the best use of stock set out in the Lettings Scheme.

4 Our definition of sheltered housing is drawn from the Housing Act 1985. It refers to a group of dwellings which are particularly suitable having regard to their size and design for elderly persons and for which it is the practice of the landlord to let for occupation by such persons. Special facilities are part of the scheme which are provided wholly or mainly for the purpose of assisting those persons - such as the use of a common room in close proximity to the group of dwelling houses.

If you would like a review of the response to your request or if you have any complaints about the information supplied please contact the Data Protection Officer.

The Data Protection Officer ([North Warwickshire Borough Council request email])
North Warwickshire Borough Council
The Council House
South Street
Atherstone
Warwickshire
CV9 1DE

Your request for an internal review should be submitted to us within 40 days of receipt by you of this response. Any requests received after this time will be considered at the discretion of the Council’s Data Protection Officer. If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right of appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO will not make a decision until you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (national rate). Website: www.ico.org.uk.

Kind Regards

Angela Coates

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Dear Michael

Nuala Grady has shared your e-mail to her with me. I am replying because I
am the responsible officer for fire safety in blocks of flats.

I appreciate the comments you have made about the Equality Act. We also
have clear and certain duties from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety)
Order 2005 and Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. We want to find a
balance between these duties in to support tenants but sometimes they are
in conflict.

As we discussed last week, from your discussions with Pete Taylor, we have
found a suitable solution for the storage of your scooter. We expect the
socket to be fitted in the garage that you rent at 51 Monument View on
Monday. That will ensure that you can park your scooter away from your
flat and not in the common area/ staircase. We will put a smoke alarm in
the garage. We request that you do not leave the scooter plugged in
overnight.

I am sorry that you had cause to complain about how we approached sharing
our concerns with you about the scooter being parked/ stored in the common
area. We felt the need to be direct because we have asked you not to park
the scooter in the staircase previously because of the known risks of
fire. It is clear from your e-mail, and because you have not acted as we
had requested, that you disagree with our advice and therefore ignored our
requests for co-operation. From our perspective the continued practice
puts other residents at risk. It is not just about obstruction it is about
the fire risk. We are guided in our zero tolerance attitude to the
scooters being stored in common areas by our Fire Risk Assessments and the
Fire Service – locally and nationally. You may be interested to read the
National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) guidance on mobility scooters and
residential buildings. At 7.1 of the guidance it says “Mobility scooters
involved in a fire can release large volumes of smoke and generate
significant heat outputs. If mobility scooters are stored on escape routes
and are involved in a fire there is potential that escape routes will
become impassable and residents within the building could be placed at
significant risk in the event of a fire.”

I understand the point you make about having a voice. It is important that
we listen to our tenants. Nonetheless we do need our tenants to listen to
us too. I have spoken to our Fire Risk Assessor about the point you have
made about the battery in your scooter being lead acid. This is also
covered in the NFCC Guidance document. The advice is that they agree that
there is a greater risk from lithium iron phosphate batteries but a risk
remains with the scooter you are using. Advice continues to be for
mobility scooters to be parked away from common areas and staircases. I
hope that you agree that we have listened to your concerns and worked with
you to find a workable solution. If this is not the case, given your
concerns about the risks of the scooter being parked in your flat and our
insistence that it cannot be parked in the common area, you may conclude
that your accommodation is not suitable for your needs.

Whilst writing I note the point you make about the washing machine. Thank
you for moving it to the garden area. I have asked for it to be removed as
we agreed.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. Whilst recognising
them this note also attempts to clarify the Council’s position. I
appreciate your co-operation with Pete Taylor to find a safe solution for
the storage of your scooter.

Please let me know if there is anything else that I can assist with.

Kind Regards

Angela

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Dear Mr Jewkes
Thank you for your e-mail. I apologise for responding to the wrong e-mail
address. We will take particular care in future to respond to the address
that you use in your specific correspondence. I am sorry for the error on
this occasion.
Kind Regards
Angela Coates
Angela Coates
Director of Housing

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From: michael jewkes <[FOI #1030850 email]>
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2023 1:50:57 AM
To: Angela Coates <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Mobility Scooter Storage
 
Caution: Warning external email

Dear Angela Coates,
I'd like to point out here you are conflating my personal and professional
issues here, this freedom of information request had absolutely nothing to
do with my personal situation,  so I would request in the future you
please email me directly unless it is applicable to the issue I am
researching, You will notice this was sent in September well prior to my
email to Nuala.
I also have to say I am extremely disappointed that my personal
information has appeared on a public freedom of information site.
I am extremely happy with my home and I have the greatest of gratitude to
you for sorting out the electrical installation for my garage, but
identifying its location is a worrying issue for me here.
The purpose of this freedom of information request was actually based on
issues I've dealt with professionally in writing for other members of the
public due to issues around the allocation of accommodation to them.
Please in the future if there is an issue that is pertinent to me
personally email me at my personal email address which you have, I've
always had the utmost respect for you Angela, and always treated you with
such. My main issue as you will have noticed with my housing officer was
the manner in which she spoke to me and refused point blank to listen to a
word I said and spoke over me constantly hence i felt the need to email
rather than discuss something you will know I do not normally do, I always
prefer to discuss issues amicably as was stated in the letter neither item
was there for more than 15 mins, they were there only whilst i had my new
washing machine delivered.

Yours sincerely,

michael jewkes

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Dear Mr Jewkes

Thank you for your further e-mail following my response. I am sorry that my answers were not clear.

These are my further responses:

Your Question 2. At whose discretion is the allocation made.
& your follow up enquiry - " I would like to know for question 2 what position they would hold within the council, are they housing officers, management, or specialized in the subject"

Our Lettings Scheme states that the officers who make the decisions are the Housing Options Officers. Their decisions are reviewed by the Housing Services Manager on request.

Your Question 3, what training is given to the person who makes the decision around disabilities
& your follow up enquiry - What training are they given in order to make those decisions?

The Housing Options and Lettings Team do not make decisions about applicants' disabilities. They assess housing applications against the criteria in the Lettings Scheme. I have attached the job specification for their role. Their training to support their professional role includes subjects such as allocations and homelessness legislation, domestic abuse and safeguarding.

I hope that this is of assistance.

Kind Regards

Angela Coates

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