Rochdale council wants RBH to change its name following death of Awaab Ishak so people don’t confuse the two

Rochdale council wants Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to change its name following the death of Awaab Ishak so people don’t confuse the two.

Council leader Neil Emmott made the suggestion as elected members debated a motion at a full council meeting on Wednesday 14 December urging the shamed housing provider’s current board to resign.

The motion, moved by housing cabinet member Councillor Danny Meredith, also called for council representation on the RBH board as part of a ‘rolling overhaul’ of its governance and new interim chief executive Yvonne Arrowsmith to meet with council bosses ‘as a matter of urgency’ once in post.

Councillor Emmott found favour with his proposal that it should include a demand for RBH to change its name due so people do not confuse it with the local authority.

“I would like to change the name, frankly, because Rochdale Boroughwide Housing is too close a name to Rochdale Borough Council,” he told the meeting.

“And a lot of the media, over the Awaab Ishak issue, have actually thought it was the council that had done it – when, in fact, it’s nothing to do with us. We haven’t had that housing stock for 10 and a half years now.”

Councillor Amna Mir agreed councillors were ‘getting the blame’ for the borough’s housing issues due to the confusion.

“People are angry with us because they still think Rochdale Council is responsible for the plight they are in,” the Labour councillor for Smallbridge and Firgrove said.

“They do not know that their landlord is RBH because they think they are one and the same. So I fully support the name change as well as this motion.”

Councillor Irene Davidson also backed the motion – and echoed Councillor Emmott’s call for RBH to distance itself from the council with a change of name.

The Lib Dem added: “We need to make sure the people in Rochdale borough know RBH have got nothing to do with us, we have got nothing to do with them.

“And let’s get some of our members back on that board and let’s start again.”

Last month a coroner ruled that two-year-old Awaab had died after prolonged exposure to damp and mould at his RBH home on the Freehold estate in Rochdale.

Former chief executive Gareth Swarbrick attempted to cling to his post until calls for him to be removed – including from housing secretary Michael Gove – could no longer be denied.

An emotional Councillor Meredith told the meeting he had been in tears over the ‘horrible’ stories he had heard from RBH residents over recent weeks.

“All I want to do is do good for this borough – to do good for these people we represent,” he said.

“And that’s why this board needs to go. This board needs to go now, because what we need is a fresh start for our residents, to make sure they have safe and decent homes.”

The motion was unanimously passed and amended to include that RBH should change its name.

RBH issued a new statement on Thursday after being downgraded by the social housing regulator for failing to act for two years following Awaab Ishak’s death.
 

Read more: Regulator of Social Housing finds significant failings in the way that RBH deals with damp and mouldPublished: 16 December 2022

It reads: “Everyone at RBH is driven by a desire to provide safe and comfortable homes we are proud of. Yet, mistakes have been made. We failed Awaab, his family and the community we serve.

“We would like to once again to express our deepest sympathies for the tragic loss of Awaab, and we will forever remain sorry to his family.”

RBH said it accepted the findings of the regulator and was already working to address their concerns and meet their expectations.

“We now have a long road ahead of us to regain the trust and confidence of current and future tenants, Rochdale Council, the Rochdale community, and the regulator,” the statement adds.

Rochdale council met at Number One Riverside on Wednesday night (14 December).

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter