Liberal Democrat fudge will hit Lambeth tenants

Special council meeting was called to find out how the council was defrauded by £3 million

Liberal Democrat Housing boss Keith Fitchett was last night humiliated after he was forced to hand over responsibility for running Lambeth’s housing to his Tory Deputy, Bernard Gentry.

The shady back room deal reflects the fact that Councillor Fitchett can no longer be trusted to run the Housing Service following the discovery of a £2.8 million fraud. He will now have his work overseen by a committee headed by councillor Gentry in a contrived structure that will only confuse a department already in crisis.

Fitchett has been under intense pressure to resign following the discovery of the fraud in July, particularly since an independent inquiry slammed his department for incompetence. Incredibly, at a special council meeting called by Labour members, Councillor Fitchett admitted that he routinely failed to share information with colleagues in his own coalition.

Lambeth’s housing finances were described as in “chaos” at the end of March by an officer interviewed as part of an independent fraud investigation conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The probe concluded the Housing Department lacked “any apparent management oversight, at all levels, to monitor, review and compare apparent or actual activity levels against financial spend.”

The Leader of Lambeth’s Labour Opposition, Cllr Steve Reed said:

“The Lib Dems and their Tory friends have chosen to prop up Councillor Fitchett despite the fact that £3 million has gone missing because of his incompetence. This astonishing back-room deal humiliates him further and will ensure the strong guidance needed by the Housing Department is not put in place.”

“By leaving Councillor Fitchett in office but not in power in this shabby fashion, the Lib Dem-Tory coalition are condemning tenants and leaseholders to continuing confusion at the top of housing department.”

Share you views on this and other local issues in the Lambeth Forum and be kept informed about local issues by emailing subscribe@lambethlabour.com.

To let us know your view on this issue, get help from your local councillor, or discover how you can help Labour in Lambeth, please complete the form below.