Justice for Mr and Mrs Daly

Kenneth Roy

Monday evening
John Daly and his wife Ruth, who live in what Mrs Daly calls a 'ghost city', are splendid people. They have done everything that society expected of them. Mr Daly fought in the Korean war as a national serviceman. They brought up their children responsibly and were proud when one of them was dux of the school and went on to university. When the government of the day encouraged tenants to buy their own houses, the Dalys bought theirs. Mr Daly is 77 years old. His wife, who suffered a stroke two months ago and has lost the sight of an eye as a result, is 75. They are living in conditions that are an affront to civilised society.
     Athough there are 13 candidates standing in Thursday's by-election in Glasgow north-east, no one has canvassed the two-storey blocks in Fountainwell Road, Sighthill. No one has been near the place. The likeliest explanation for this neglect is itself an indictment: no one looking at these derelict blocks would reasonably suppose that anyone was still living in them; their habitation is unimaginable.
     To summarise what is illustrated in today's photo feature: one of the inhabited blocks is flooded, and therefore potentially dangerous. In an area notorious for drug-related crime and delinquency, neither block has any door security: the occupants claim that the landlord removed it. To enter either of the blocks, you simply push the door open. The CCTV cameras, which afforded the occupants some protection, have also been removed, leaving those inside even more vulnerable to intrusion and attack. The stairs and corridors are inadequately lit. The water supply is unreliable. When the taps stop running, the people are offered bottled water.
     In short: the remaining occupants are unsafe, unprotected, and at times lacking in a basic amenity of life. Until recently, this was the constituency of the Speaker of the House of Commons. This is Scotland in the early years of the 21st century.

Although the condition of the Fountainwell Road flats is deplorable in every respect, you might assume that the property is the responsibility of some private slum landlord; you might also assume that the environmental health department of the local authority would be taking immediate action to close the blocks down. These assumptions are mistaken.
     The two blocks are managed by an organisation created by the Scottish Government. The organisation in question, Glasgow Housing Association, is a social landlord, a not-for-profit body with philanthropic intentions. 'We're not just a landlord,' the GHA declares on the home page of its website. 'We're working with the people of Glasgow to create homes and communities we can all be proud of.' In Fountainwell Road there is a very different reality.
     This is an avoidable housing disaster. When Glasgow Housing Association was established in 2003, inheriting the housing stock of Glasgow City Council, 81,000 properties in all, it was on the explicit understanding that the stock would be parcelled out in a 'second-stage transfer' to a network of local housing associations. Had this happened, there would have been a chance of local accountability for decisions made about the future of such failed estates as Fountainwell Road. But it did not happen; it has still not happened. Much to the dismay of the city council, only 2,000 houses have been transferred to smaller associations, while the rest remain under the control of 'Europe's largest social landlord'. How able is GHA to cope with the many demands placed upon it? It has been troubled by internal problems, including the resignations earlier this year of the vice-chairman and chief executive; the Scottish housing regulator, in a damning report, has criticised its lack of clear purpose or direction.
     But the internal problems of the association are of no consolation to its tenants and factored owner-occupiers, many of whom are struggling for survival. In Fountainwell Road, the struggle is an unequal one, fought hourly.
     If Glasgow Housing Association is true to its ideals and its public responsibilities, it must move the tenants from the flooded block, if only for their own safety, and give them decent accommodation elsewhere. It must apply humanitarian concern in the case of Mr and Mrs Daly, who invested in the property in good faith only to witness years of neglect and decay, both of their own block and of the area as a whole, and ensure that they are offered a new home and proper compensation for the loss of their old one. By a new home, we do not mean some squalid place in an area littered with Buckfast bottles, which was the preferred option of the housing association; after all they have suffered, Mr and Mrs Daly are entitled to dignity and peace. Mark, the young man along the corridor who has made a private haven out of unendurable circumstances – going so far as to create a balcony garden – he too deserves better, much better, than this.
     
Tuesday morning
Yesterday morning, we put a series of questions to the housing association; we received the following response just before this edition went online:
     'The majority of properties at 43, 57 and 71 Fountainwell Road are cleared awaiting demolition and the safety and welfare of the residents remaining in these properties remains a priority.
     The remaining owner-occupiers who wish to be re-housed with GHA have all been made several offers of alternative accommodation. Unfortunately, they have refused these on various grounds. We are speaking with other housing providers in the north of the city to secure permanent accommodation for all of them.
     Staff from the Local Housing Organisation visit the area on a daily basis and regular patrols are made by our Concierge Night Mobile team.
     Unfortunately, several properties were vandalised over the weekend resulting in flooding and water damage. Fortunately none of the residents were affected by the water damage. We are doing everything we can to have this problem fixed.
     The concierge station, which operated the CCTV system, was part of the clearance and, as a result, the cameras were removed.
     The secure door entry system is powered by the electricity company. We have asked for the meter to be reinstated as it was removed in error.
     We are not aware of any further issues regarding the water supply.
     Discussions between Mr Daly and Compass LHO staff are taking place regarding his compensation claim.'

SR's assistant editor was at Fountainwell Road on both Saturday and Sunday and saw no evidence of anything being done to 'fix the problem' of the flooded building. The occupants we have spoken to within the last few minutes insist there is a continuing problem with flooding; sometimes it is worse than at other times.
     On the claim that a night mobile team is patrolling the area, Mr Daly told me: 'You'd have a better chance of seeing the comet.'
     The occupants agree that there is no current issue with the water supply but that it has been unreliable in the recent past.
     As far as alternative housing is concerned, Mr Daly says he has been offered accommodation in 'ghettos in Royston' which he and his wife have no intention of accepting. 'The families of the people who're suggesting we live there wouldn't live there themselves. At our age we're looking for a bit of peace and quiet.'
     I note that Glasgow Housing Association has not attempted to defend the removal of the CCTV cameras, but welcome its promise to restore the secure door entry system 'removed in error'. Like Mr Daly, I hope that the compensation claim will be resolved soon. Meanwhile, any candidate for election on Thursday who is seriously interested in serving the people he or she aspires to represent should visit Fountainwell Road and meet the people there. It should be an educational experience.  

To maintain our inquiring journalism, we need your help to make our target of £10,000 by the end of November. Become a Friend of the Scottish Review [click here]