News in brief from City Hall: Housing Compensation Payouts top thousands
City Hall to Pay £1000s Compensation Over Housing Blunders
The Housing Ombudsman has found Norwich City Council to be at fault 43 times on complaints brought by residents. This makes a rate of 83% of ‘maladministration’ being found. The Labour cabinet member for housing, admitted that the council doesn’t ‘put right any failings or manage their [tenants’] complaints appropriately’.
This is consistent with reports the local Lib Dem team have had while door-knocking. University ward spokesperson, James Hawketts, said: "Time and again city hall has promised better, yet under-delivered. I’m glad consistent housing failures like the multitude of empty council houses and repair backlogs previously reported on in Focus are seeing the light of day”.
Several Proposals Being Considered for Future Use of City Hall
Around 2,600m² of space within City Hall could be repurposed in coming years. A survey run by Norwich City Council showed that residents were keen on the grade-II listed building being used for community events and cultural activities.
Over a thousand people said their top priority was to improve access to council services, which can often be difficult currently, especially for people who aren’t comfortable with the internet.