Awaab Ishak death: Board sacks boss at housing body that ran home where boy, 2, was killed by mould | UK News
The chief executive of the housing agency that ran the house where a toddler was killed by exposure to mold has been dismissed.
The coroner ruled that Awaab Ishak died in December 2020 of a respiratory condition caused by mold in a one-bedroom apartment managed by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH).
Its chief executive, Gareth Swarbrick, was sacked after days of political pressure.
On Thursday Mr Swarbrick apologized but said: “After speaking with the board, I can confirm that I will not be resigning.”
However, on Saturday, the President and Vice Chairman of RBH’s Representative Body and Board of Directors said in a statement: “The Board has taken the decision to remove Gareth Swarbrick from the position of Chief Executive Officer. of the RBH with immediate effect.
“We will now work to appoint an external interim CEO.
“Our initial instinct was that Gareth would stay to help the organization through this difficult period and make the necessary changes, but we all realized that this was no longer possible.
“The coroner noted that RBH has made changes as a result of Awaab’s tragic death. Under new leadership, RBH will continue to make these changes and continue to push for further improvements to Awaab.” with our house as well as for our communication with tenants.
“We are committed to sharing what we’ve learned about the health impacts of damp, condensation and mold with the social housing sector and supporting industry-wide changes. We will work with other national and local agencies as well as with the central government in implementing the broader changes proposed to them by the Investigator.
“As an organization, we are deeply sorry for Awaab’s death and deeply saddened that it happened in one of our homes. We have to make sure this never happens. His death should be a wake-up call for everyone in the housing, social care and health sectors.
“We support the call by the Housing Inspector and Coroner to strengthen the government’s Decent Housing Standards to include damp and mold.
“There will be no further statements at this time.”
