HAVE THEY NO SHAME PART 3

Mohammed Warsame knows all about forced eviction, 10 years ago he was fleeing for his life from warring factions in Somalia. He eventually ended up in the UK and in Northampton, and in September 2003 after serving his time on the waiting list he moved into a one bedroom council flat in Spring Boroughs with his wife and young child.

Mohammed is a proud man and has never claimed benefits, he quickly got himself a job on Brackmills and has always strived to pay his way. His family had at last found peace and security and soon after a second child was added to the family. Life was beginning to take on an air of normality after all the trauma in their homeland and their flight from fear.

But living with 4 people under one small roof in a small one bedroom flat was not easy and the Council were not in a position to offer him anything bigger. So Mohammed, as is his way sorted out the problem himself. His mother in law, lived in a larger flat in Chelsea, and those who understand Somalian culture will know that it is very normal for young mothers to reside with their own mother whilst the husband was working. in Somalia many of the men work hundreds of miles away from their family to earn money to support the family so Mrs Warsame and the two children moved in with Mum even though they wanted to be at home in Northampton with Mohammed.

Mohammed carried on working 5 days a week at Brackmills and then at the weekends he would visit his wife and children at the mother in laws in Chelsea. His mother in law was not working, and it soon become apparent that Mohhamed would need to support both households, so he worked harder, did extra shifts and tried to pay his way the best he could, but he fell behind with the rent, not hugely, but enough to worry him. At one point he was £800 in arrears with NBC, but by working a bit more overtime he reduced that down to £400. All this it seems was to be to no avail!

You seen those kind souls at Lib Dem controlled Northampton Borough Council, decided to serve him a repossession order and took the case to court to evict Mr Warsame on the grounds of unpaid rent. Now those who understand how the Council works will be amazed that they took such an austere measure over such a small sum, residents usually can run up arrears into the thousands before the council would even consider taking the case to court for eviction. So why was Mohammed being treated so badly?

Thankfully the Judge agreed, and noted that Mr Warsame had been reducing his arrears not allowing them to grow and refused the Council the right to repossess the property. But the court costs still added another £120 to Mr Warsame's arrears, hardly helpful to him giving his current position. but at least he could keep his flat? Or could he?

Before Mohammed had even left the court another kind soul from the Borough Councils Housing Department caught up with him and handed him another pre prepared eviction order! This time under the auspice of the flat in Spring Boroughs not being his main abode! So they once more told him he had to go and duly evicted him in May. He couldn't understand what he had done wrong? And didn't know who to turn to.

Ever since he has been sleeping on friends sofas in Northampton during the week to ensure he keeps his job and then commuting at weekends back down to Chelsea, where he recently received a bill for over £1100 from NBC who had added another months rent (notice of intention to quit) to his bill despite them evicting him.

Mohammed came to me to ask we what he had done wrong? And why the Council were victimising him? the only response I have got so far from my enqiuries to the Council is that they had discovered that Mr Warsame's name had appeared as being resident on a housing benefit claim in Chelsea, he was of course, and the claim probably in the name of his mother in law was simply being truthful as to who resided there albeit only at weekends.

But what business is it of Northampton Borough Council what his mother in law does in Chelsea? and how did they source this information with the Data Protection Act in place?

And why oh why did no one at NBC think to invite him in to talk about his housing needs? after all if the Council had done it's job properly Mrs Warsame and the 2 children would still be in Northampton with their husband/father living in a slightly bigger property. So much it seems for secured tenancies!

I have of course asked the council a number of questions on Mr Warsame's case including:

Why an eviction order was served and a court case fixed on such a low arrears amount when it was clear the tenant was reducing the arrears?

How come a housing officer was in the court with a second eviction notice for a different reason on the day of the hearing?

What are they doing involving themselves in the affairs of another local authority area?

Why was Mr Warsame not offered any help at any time since 2003 instead of being treated so badly and evicted by any means possible?

Mr Warsame now tells me he has had more arrears bills sent to him in London regarding his Council Tax far beyond the point that he was forcefully removed from his tenancy.

So once again take a bow Northampton Borough Council and their Liberal Democrat administration, you must all be very proud of yourselves.

Perhaps this one should go directly to Northamptonshire Race Equality Council for them to investigate?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

HAVE THEY NO SHAME PART 2

Harry is 78 years old, and lives a mile from Northampton Town Centre. That's not his real name by the way, he at this stage wants to remain anonymous. He is very angry about how Northampton Borough Council has treated him. He is also at odds to understand why the council have singled him out for such despicable treatment. In addition to his advanced years Harry is also registered disabled, and to make life that little bit more difficult for him in his old age he has cancer.

But Harry like many Northampton born sons who have seen and battled against so much in their lives is still an independent soul, he refuses to accept his disability and and just gets on with life, therefore it cut me to the core when he has told me on more than one occasion since his troubles with NBC began "why can't the council just leave me alone and let me be, I will be dead soon enough, then I won't cause anyone any problems"

Harry's troubles started in August when he contacted me to explain that the County Council had sent him a letter, in fact a removal order, threatening to remove his motorcycle trailer from outside his house because the Borough Council had decided that it was dangerous, and declared it to be a "building container"

The building container as stated above turned out in fact to be a small trailer which at one time belonged to his old motorbike, but on which he now kept his electric bicycle. Being disabled his electric bicycle is now his only form of mobility. He uses this environmentaly friendly mode of transport to get him down to the market and back to pick up his veg and to do his other shopping. His disability and his daily medication mean that a normal mobility scooter just doesn't work for him as he gets nauseous when seated so low. The bicycle was therefore kept chained to the trailer to stop it being stolen because the three high stone steps up to his front door from the street made it impossible for him to lift the heavy bike indoors.

Surely NBC and in the first instance NCC wouldn't be so cruel as to take Harry's trailer away thus leaving him nowhere to secure his bicycle, his only means of transport and independence? So after Harry had contacted me I contacted the County Council and they kindly agreed to extend by one month the time on the removal order. They then also said that even if another order was issued, we would then have another 30 days thereafter to remove it. Time enough for us all to come up with a solution, or so we thought!

But the shameless corporate entity that is now Liberal Democrat controlled Northampton Borough Council had other ideas. whilst we were busy trying to come up with a solution for Harry, they come up with a new solution themselves to the problem, they changed their mind on Harry's trailer being a "building container" and decided that it was now a "vehicle" and as a consequence having been thwarted at their first attempt to remove it they now contacted the ELVIS abandoned vehicle scheme,(End of Life Vehicle Impound Scheme) also run by NCC and this time arranged for it to be taken away for crushing.

ELVIS then turned up one morning with no warning, but Harry put up a good fight, he sat on his trailer and pleaded for them to leave him and his trailer alone. In the end the Police were called and this helpless old man, disabled, distressed and suffering from cancer was removed from the trailer and off it went to the crusher. They left him no paperwork, no explanation as to why it was being taken away or to where and as a consequence a tearful Harry called me to ask one more to "please please" intervene.

The Borough Council then started to become very officious, they did promise to send someone from private sector housing round to talk to Harry and also suggested they might contact Care and Repair to see what they could do (neither of which came anywhere near) but as far as they were concerned by removing the trailer they had done nothing wrong.

I therefore submitted an official complaint on Harry's behalf, which also fell on deaf ears, I then raised the complaint to the next level asking them why they had failed to cooperate with NCC to find a solution to the problem rather than simply acting in such a crass fashion and in doing so denying an old man of his mobility?

But they stuck to their guns, nothing to do with them they said Elvis is run by NCC and if we had a complaint against them or the Police then that also had nothing to do with them, even though they admit that they instigated all of the aforementioned actions in the first instance.

We also pointed out to them that other trailers such as one in Fetter Street, has been parked in a restricted place every day for ten years? Why no action there? And that there were far more obstructive and dangerous obstacles all around the area? So was it simply easier for them to pick on a defenceless elderly man than say a corporate business?

In desperation and in an attempt to get the Council to see sense I then brought the case up with the Councils Chief Executive, surely he could see what a PR disaster it would be for the Council to have acted so cruelly against such an indefensible old man? Surely the council could see that finding a way forward would be cheaper in the long run than fighting a complaint?

But still all to no avail, My stage two complaint came back with none of our questions and complaints answered to any level of satisfaction and the letter then said that if Harry wished he could make a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

He will, with my full support. but why does the Council want to act and to be seen to have acted in such a disgraceful fashion? I pointed out to them very early on that there was a local authority yard just across the road from Harry's house and with a modicum of common sense they could have agreed with Harry that he could chain his bike up there out of harms way and then every one would have been happy. But Northampton Borough Council it seems doesn't do solutions, it simply bullies its residents including the elderly and puts on it's big hat of officialdom and wherever possible passes the buck and reverts once again to collective BSE (Blame Someone Else)

So perhaps at tomorrow nights Council meeting the whole Liberal Democrat Council should stand up and take a bow and lap up the praise for their latest victory in the war against such dangerous and malicious criminal classes such as Harry.

As the title above asks, Have they no shame?

(Tomorrow, part 3 Evicted by any means possible)