Statutory notice row prompts review call

CALLS were made today for an independent review of Edinburgh's statutory notice system and more rights for residents forced to pay for repairs to their property.

Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm said there were increasing complaints about the system, but voiced fears the review being carried out by the council would not address the fundamental problems. He claimed only an independent review could restore public confidence.

The statutory notice procedure, which allows the city council to hire contractors to carry out property repairs and then recover the costs from owners, is unique to Edinburgh and in the summer more than 30 million worth of work was under way in the city.

Last month, the Evening News highlighted the case of tenement residents in Dalkeith Road who were landed with a bill of up to 80,000 to fix a ground-floor shop after its owner disappeared and left it to rot.

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There have been claims of over-charging and unnecessary work being added to contracts.

Mr Chisholm said: "There are many problems with the administration of the system, some of which have been recognised by the council in a recent committee report. There are more fundamental problems, however, concerning how much work requires to be done on any particular building at any particular time and how much that work costs individual residents."

Mr Chisholm said residents should have the right to commission an independent survey when faced with escalating costs and expanding amounts of work under a statutory notice.

He said the statutory notice system had brought benefits where property was in a serious or dangerous state of disrepair. But he added: "The problem for residents is that they cannot know whether work that has been ordered is in that kind of category or not. That is why an independent view is necessary. Work should only be carried out at the time that work is absolutely necessary and reforms need to be made to ensure that principle is followed."

Phil Wheeler, convener of the council's finance and resources committee, said: "Our internal review has still to be completed. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for another investigation to be carried out at this time."