MSP demands overhaul of city statutory notice system

Labour's Sarah Boyack said the system - which allows the city council to hire contractors to carry out property repairs and then recover the costs from owners - was marked by soaring bills, poor communication and missed deadlines.

And she called for changes to keep residents better informed, give them more control over the repair scheme and bring in tighter controls on costs.

The council ordered an internal audit of the statutory notice system in June after claims it was over-using its powers to force repairs with almost 30m worth of work under way across the city.

Now Ms Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central. has written to city development director Dave Anderson, setting out the case for an overhaul.

She said she fully supported the principle of statutory notices to ensure the fabric of the city's buildings were properly maintained. But she told Mr Anderson communications between the council and residents about statutory notices were "simply not good enough".

She said: "Letters and communications from anxious residents can remain unanswered for weeks on end. The timescales for works are rarely set out clearly and certainly never met, with no explanations for delays. Initial estimates of the costs of works are often entirely different from the final costs."

She said residents rarely had any opportunity to influence the scope or phasing of work and ended up with significantly larger bills than first projected.

"I have also had examples of additional work being carried out which is not necessary and surveys commissioned by residents which identify more cost-effective and less intrusive solutions not being acted upon."

Ms Boyack said scaffolding was often left in place for months with no work being carried out. "This is expensive, bad management and is one of the most contentious problems identified."

She said residents complained they had no way of getting contractors to stick to deadlines and different contractors blamed each other for delays.

"In these circumstances council officers should be able to revert to the tender contracts which should specify responsibility and timescales with penalty clauses for missing deadlines and poor quality of work."

She suggested the tender process should be examined to see if there was scope to secure better prices.

She said when additional works are proposed there should be consultation with the owners to avoid them being hit out of the blue with a much larger bill than expected.

And she proposed a "trigger point" to require scrutiny when a project overshoots the initial estimates and check the project is under control.

Ms Boyack said owners felt particularly aggrieved that the council charged a 15 per cent fee for works to be carried out.

"Owners feel that they are not getting value for money in terms of project management."

A council spokesman said the audit was nearing completion and a report would go to councillors in due course.

Roof repair tripled to 18,000

MARK McLAUGHLIN

EMMA Jane Condon was dumbfounded when a statutory repair to the roof of her Queens Park Avenue tenement tripled from the original estimate to 18,000.

She is now taking her case to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

She said: "It's one big jobs-for-boys situation. You've got contractors actively looking for faults, chartered surveyors who receive nine per cent of the bill, and the council who have a guaranteed income because the work is legally enforceable.

"The main complaint to the ombudsman runs to 24 pages, but when you add the supporting appendices I'll be sending a document four inches thick."