A Nottinghamshire council has dismissed criticism on proposed new rules for housing tenants after the local MP said that residents felt as though they were living in North Korea. Ashfield District Council is consulting on changes to its tenancy agreement that is signed by all those living in its council housing.
The agreement was last updated in 2015 and the majority of it is staying the same, but some changes are being proposed. The consultation on the new agreement will close on November 14, but the Ashfield MP Lee Anderson has already highlighted particular changes which he says are concerning.
One of the clauses in the agreement states that: "You, people living with you and any visitors to the property must not use social media or any other form of communication to make false statements, abuse, threaten, harass or be derogatory towards council employees, contractors, agents or councillors. Communication includes telephone calls, text messages, e-mails or posting comments on social media. This condition applies wherever the communication takes place."
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Speaking about this clause of the agreement, Mr Anderson said: "Tom Hollis is in charge of council housing at Ashfield District Council so all this is on the back of him getting done for speeding and harassment. These agreements landed on people's doorsteps two days ago and people have been getting in touch with me worried that they are going to lose their homes and they feel as though it's like North Korea."
But Councillor David Hennigan, the Executive Lead Member for Corporate Communications at Ashfield District Council, said that this was not an entirely new part of the agreement. He said that the only change was the inclusion of the phrase 'social media' and added: "The inclusion of the word councillor was changed in May 2015 by the previous Labour council.
"Lee Anderson, the current Conservative MP, should know this as he was a Labour councillor and an active member of the Labour administration and voted for the changes. This has not been done to protect Tom Hollis. This is an example of Lee Anderson being desperate to deflect attention away from this disastrous Tory government which is damaging the people of Ashfield."
But Lee Anderson also raised a new clause on drying clothes which reads: "You must not routinely dry clothes on radiators and ensure radiators are not obstructed."
Mr Anderson said: "Rather than sending round the radiator police, what the council needs to do is to focus on sorting out some of the idiot nuisance tenants who are causing disruption for their neighbours."
But addressing both clauses, Paul Parkinson, the Director of Housing and Assets and the Deputy CEO at Ashfield District Council said: "A tenancy agreement is based around proportionality. One of the proposed new clauses under the anti-social behaviour section is aimed at protecting council employees and contractors from abuse and harassment whilst undertaking their job.
"The wording is simply a refreshed paragraph from the existing 2015 agreement, and numerous examples of this clause can be found in Local Authority tenancy agreements across the land. It would not be proportionate to take action against tenants who simply express a view or opinion of the service, whether positive or negative, however should a tenant make direct threats or harass an employee to the point of it being a criminal matter then formal action may follow to address and resolve the issue.
"The proposed clause in relation to radiators states that clothes should not be routinely dried on radiators. This means that it is permissible but offers a common sense approach to avoiding damp and mould in the property."
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