Council slated after warden bullied elderly

Aug 7 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

A COUNCIL has been slammed by the Local Government Ombudsman after two vulnerable residents were forced out of their homes because of bullying by a warden.

The residents, named in the report only as Mr P and Mrs S, were both in their 60s and living in a sheltered housing scheme owned by South Tyneside Council and managed by South Tyneside Homes.

They complained that the council had failed to protect them from being bullied, harassed, intimidated, publicly humiliated and abused by the warden and the council had failed to deal with their complaints about her properly.

The allegations claimed the warden restricted the residents’ use of the communal area landing to one slot a week while using it herself.

And a tape recording of threats made to the disabled Mr P by the warden’s daughter was described as harrowing and deeply distressing.

Ombudsman Anne Seex in her report said there was a grave substantive failure to undertake any proper investigation of serious allegations about the behaviour of an employee in a position of responsibility for vulnerable people and inaction in the face of very persuasive evidence of serious problems at the sheltered scheme.

“This was maladministration with potentially very serious consequences.”

A spokesman for South Tyneside Council said: “Both South Tyneside Council and South Tyneside Homes accept the Ombudsman’s judgment and we have expressed our sincere regret to Mr P and Mrs S. We have fully accepted the Ombudsman’s recommendations to remedy the injustice caused in this case.

“Since the complaint in 2004, both organisations have carried out significant internal inquiries into complaints by Mr P and Mrs S. We share an absolute commitment to ensuring that vulnerable people in South Tyneside receive the best possible care.”

Both victims were paid £2,500 by the council and given priority for rehousing.