Lawyer restricts resident's contact with Brighton and Hove City Council

The tenant has already been vindicated twice by the housing ombudsman who, earlier this year, increased the sum that the council must pay him in compensation.

The token award that the council must pay Craven Vale resident Lee Catt was increased to £1,350 after a series of failures to deal with anti-social behaviour, clean his block of flats and make appropriate adjustments.

Mr Catt currently has 10 more complaints against the council waiting for adjudication by the housing ombudsman and the Information Commissioner’s Office.

And a neighbour, who has asked not to be named because they work for the council, has been suspended from their job and fears that they have been targeted because of their complaints as a tenant.

The issues have included human faeces and urine repeatedly left on a balcony at the block of flats, a nightmare neighbour and personal details being shared with another neighbour.

Another resident, Craven Vale Residents’ Association secretary Alan Cooke, has complained to the council’s chief executive Jess Gibbons and council leader Bella Sankey about the treatment of Mr Catt and another neighbour.

Last month, Mr Catt and one of his neighbours, who has made similar complaints, received a letter from the council requiring them to communicate through a dedicated email address.

The letter, from the council’s director of governance and law Elizabeth Culbert, said that the “frequency, volume and tone” of the correspondence had upset some officials and was a disproportionate use of council resources.

The letter said: “As part of the review, the council has considered whether at this time there are any outstanding matters which amount to new issues which merit a fresh investigation.

“The conclusion is that there are no outstanding matters which require further investigation.

“For these reasons, the conclusion has been reached that the council needs to manage your communications to protect the health and safety of our staff and to make best use of council resources.

“Any communications with the council from you, or made on your behalf, about complaints relating to issues raised before the date of this letter will not be the subject of any further investigation or correspondence by the council.”

Mr Catt was shocked at the response because every complaint raised has been upheld by the ombudsman and regulator because, he said, the council was still not following its own policies and procedures.

For example, a subject access request submitted by Mr Catt showed a housing official asking to “push back” against a request for regular updates on an anti-social behaviour problem.

The problem involved a neighbour leaving human faeces and urine on the balcony of their home – and Mr Catt asked to have fortnightly contact with the council because of the health risks.

One of his ward councillors, Labour councillor Tristram Burden, who represents Queen’s Park, told the housing department that Mr Catt’s request was “very reasonable”.

Councillor Burden said in an email that was also disclosed: “Leaving the urine or whatever other substance you believe it might be without ordering its swift removal as a matter of urgency is unacceptable.

“I understand services are under constant pressure and that resources are stretched but please follow up with the resident to both reinforce the message that they must not throw urine on their balcony or will face eviction (and) clean up the mess as a matter of urgent public health and hygiene.

“Informing Mr Catt that it can wait until next week or longer is extraordinarily insensitive to the stress this matter is causing him.”

Mr Catt is frustrated that the council appears to be ignoring the ombudman’s findings and continuing to discriminate against him.

He said: “I feel the whole situation is ridiculous that even senior management can’t see the wrongdoing of the organisation and put things right which are their policy.

“They’re willing to spend taxpayers’ money covering up wrongdoing. Even senior management are aware because they’ve been copied in.

“Talking to some officers, I’ve heard from them how the council will go into ‘protectionist mode’. it is shocking how the council will focus on protecting itself rather than do what’s right and follow its own policies.

“This is costing taxpayers’ money when all they needed to do was say: ‘Sorry, we got it wrong.’”

Labour councillor Gill Williams, the council’s cabinet member for housing and new homes, said: “We have previously acknowledged the housing ombudsman’s findings in relation to Mr Catt’s complaints and can confirm we have acted on all the orders made.

“We will also co-operate fully with any investigation that the housing ombudsman, or any other regulatory body, chooses to undertake. At present, there are no such requests with the council relating to this matter.

“While we would not go into specific detail relating to an individual resident’s circumstances, what the letter to Mr Catt makes very clear is that we will continue to look into any new matters brought to us by Mr Catt or, indeed, any other local resident.

“The letter simply explains we will not re-investigate complaints which have already been investigated and responded to.”