Islington | Kate Belgrave

Readers of this site will know that I’ve been posting stories about Ann Sparling, a 47-year-old disabled woman who can’t leave her 4th floor Islington council flat, because she can’t walk up or down the four flights of stairs. There is no lift in her building.

I asked the Islington Council press office what procedures the council had in place for ensuring that people in Ann’s situation wouldn’t be stuck in their flats in an emergency.

I also asked if the council knew how many disabled people were trapped in similar situations.

Got no answers there.

Ann reported, however, that when a council officer finally got in contact with Ann about her situation, the council officer wondered the same sort of thing – “wonder how many people are stuck in the same situation?”

Ever the trier, I sent an FOI to Islington in August with those questions.

The answers were hopeless.

For example:

Q: How many of those households with a disabled member who are requesting transfers are requesting ground floor flats, because they are housed in flats which are up one or more flights of stairs?

Answer: “We are unable to answer this question. Housing information (e.g. the floor level of a property) and Adult Social Care information (e.g. whether a service user has a disability) are stored on different systems and it is not possible to cross reference this information.”

and:

Q: How many households with a disabled member of the household are currently housed in council flats which are inaccessible to disabled people?

Answer: “…For those with existing tenancies in council properties, the council would only be aware if a resident is disabled if they self-identify as such and have notified the council. Additionally, housing information (e.g. the floor level of a property) and Adult Social Care information (e.g. whether a service user is disabled) are stored on different systems and it is not possible to cross reference this information.”

I’m not even sure what that means. I do know that notifying the council re: your disability and needing a transfer because of it means absolutely nothing. Ann notified the council of her situation several years ago and has sent no end of paperwork since, but remained stuck in her flat.

This is garbage. How many disabled people are stuck in flats in buildings that they can’t easily leave? What happens to those people an emergency? What happens if the fire brigade asks if there are disabled people stuck in inaccessible flats? Do they get the same Computer Says No? Does anybody care?

Last week, I wrote about Islington woman Ann Sparling, 47.

Ann lives in a 4th floor Islington council flat with her daughter, who is 15 and her son, who is 17. Ann has serious osteoarthritis in her knees. She’s had surgery several times. She walks with crutches. She is in constant pain.

There is no lift in Ann’s building. She must use the stairs to leave the building.

Ann can’t walk up and down these stairs. She recently stayed in the flat for 41 days straight, because her knees were bad and she found the stairs impossible. Occasionally, on a better day, Ann’s children help her down the stairs so that she can go outside. They hold onto her as she walks the steps. Ann’s children are her carers. They help her in and out of the bath and do the shopping, and so on.

Ann lives in fear of fire, or an emergency, because she can’t leave the flat by herself. She’s trapped.

I went to see Ann on Sunday. These are the stairs that she is expected to navigate:

Ann first asked Islington council to move her to an accessible flat three years ago. Nothing happened.

Last week, when people started tweeting this post, things started to happen – after a fashion. A council officer called Ann to collect her details and note down her difficulties. The council sent Ann a form for an occupational therapy assessment.

That was a start.

Ann’s problems will only be solved, of course, when she is moved to an accessible flat.

The council was reluctant to give me a timeframe for that, or to get down to specifics.

Any specifics, that is.

I asked the council several times how many sick, disabled and elderly people are stuck in the isolated and potentially lethal situation described here. I’ve asked the council about this several times.

This is crucial. Since my last post, people in different parts of the country have been in touch to say that disabled family members have indeed been stuck in inaccessible flats.

Ann says that the officer who spoke to her last week wondered the same thing: “[the officer said] it makes you wonder how many people are in the same way.”

Islington council refuses to answer questions about the number of people in Ann’s situation. Nor will the council say what plans it has in place to make sure that people who live in inaccessible housing can get out in an emergency. Does the council even know who and where everybody in this sort of situation is?

I think that the council does not.

The council sent me the usual We’re In A Housing Crisis statement – as opposed to answers:

“London is in the grip of a major housing crisis…There is a desperate need for secure, genuinely affordable housing to help people in very difficult circumstances…The council is doing everything it can to help tackle this problem and help residents into safe, genuinely affordable homes…” etc, etc.

That, as I say, is a statement, not an answer. I know London is in the grip of a housing crisis. Problem is that disabled people and people in poverty are expected to take the deadly fallout.