Incompetent council evicted blind man

13 Sep 01
Birmingham City Council has been criticised by its own watchdog for evicting a blind man who had fallen behind with his rent payments.

14 September 2001

Councillor Hugh McCallion, chair of the service delivery scrutiny committee, condemned the authority's 'incompetence' as being 'beyond belief'.

The – unnamed – man was locked out of his flat on July 31 when officers changed the locks. His guide dog was locked inside the flat, even though a caretaker warned the officers that the dog was still in the property. The dog was not released from the property until the following day.

It transpired that the authority's actions were entirely unnecessary, as the man had negotiated a repayment plan to clear his arrears two months previously.

McCallion said it was obvious that something had gone badly wrong. 'The incompetence was bad enough but the insensitivity in changing the locks without the blind tenant being present and knowing that his guide dog was inside was beyond belief,' he said.

'No follow-up provision had been made for the release of the animal or to anticipate the inevitable distress of the visually impaired tenant.'

Birmingham council's equalities unit is looking into the case to establish if the man suffered discrimination because of his blindness.

The council has refused to comment on the details of the case, except to admit that its actions were wrong. 'A letter of apology has been sent to the tenant in braille and his tenancy has been reinstated,' a spokeswoman said.

  • Birmingham council has said it will campaign to have the National Exhibition Centre's debts removed from its balance sheet. The authority owns half the conference centre, and therefore half the NEC's liabilities are included on the council's balance sheet, so restricting its ability to borrow.

    Birmingham is to ask the government to introduce a Parliamentary order separating the organisations' finances.


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