Sandwell Council: Homes missing electrics checks

Electrical safety checks for hundreds of council tenants have not been carried out for more than 10 years, a review has found.

The investigation, carried out by Sandwell Council, discovered 1,245 of homes it managed were affected.

The checks have become mandatory every five years in England for privately-rented homes but with exclusions for social housing.

However, the council said it aimed to address outstanding checks by December.

It added that while more than three-quarters of its homes had an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) dated within the past five years, it would refer itself to a watchdog.

The authority said the issue of outstanding checks was mainly due to electrical safety data not being on a system it could easily track.

Extra electricians have been brought in to deliver EICRs, with a target of 100 every day.

Homes where the last reports are more than 10 years old will be prioritised in the hope of completing them by the end of July.

Council leader Kerrie Carmichael said the authority was determined to correct the issue quickly and had referred itself to the Regulator of Social Housing.

The council said it had also begun a "root and branch" review of how it managed its social housing to draw up an overall improvement plan.

Government officials were appointed in March to make changes at Sandwell Council after an audit found evidence of poor behaviour and a lack of trust across the organisation.