After toddler died housing boss got a £15k pay rise

A year after the death of a toddler, who died from exposure to mould, the Social Housing manager in charge was given a top up to his salary which came to £185,000. 

In December 2020, Awaab Ishak, aged two, died of respiratory conditions.

Coroner Joanne Kearsley discovered the cause of death was "chronic exposure to harmful mould" in his family's flat in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

She said Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), the housing provider, was not "proactive" in handling the family's complaints. She asked; "How in the UK in 2020 does a two-year-old die as a result of exposure to mould?" 

It has been revealed, in the Housing Associations accounts, that Chief Executive Gary Swarbrick saw his salary rise from £170,000 to £185,000 following the death.

The Housing Secretary, Michael Gove MP, commented in the House of Commons that he had spoken to Mr Swarbrick and it became apparent there were "systemic problems in the governance and leadership of that organisation."

On the coroner's recommendations, he said he would "act immediately" adding that RBH's "repeated failure to heed Awabb's family's pleas to remove the mould in their damp ridden property was a terrible dereliction of duty."

Mr Gove commented that attempts, "to attribute the existence of mould to the actions of Awaab's parents were beyond insensitive and deeply unprofessional." He also commented that it seemed to him that the family, originally from Sudan, were "victims of prejudice."

Mr Swarbrick is now facing calls to quit.

He has subsequently been reported as saying, "we didn't recognise the level of risk to a little boy's health from the mould in the family's home. We allowed a legal disrepair process, widely used in the housing sector, to get in the way of promptly tackling the mould."

Whitestone Solicitors