New £43k council role to help keep residents safe
A new role is being created at Cannock Chase Council to help keep residents safe in their homes.
The Electrical Qualified Supervisor post is being brought in following recent legislation to protect tenants in council homes from risks such as carbon monoxide poisoning and fires.
A report to the council’s cabinet stated the full time post would have a salary of £43,960 and would be funded through the authority’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA).
The report added: “The housing department currently manages 5,096 properties across the district as of 31st March 2022. Of these, there are 35 blocks of flats with communal areas and four sheltered schemes.
“Previously the Senior Electrical Officer role was shared between Housing Maintenance and Housing Property Services, specifically covering the responsibilities of the Electrical Qualified Supervisor for Housing Maintenance. Due to the demand of work required in the Housing Property Services team, and the additional projects to upgrade electrical appliances and technology within the housing stock, Housing Property Services required the role on a full-time basis.
“There has been recent electrical legislation introduced to further protect tenants residing in council properties, by ensuring the installation of hard-wired carbon monoxide detectors, heat detectors and smoke alarms, along with multi sensor detectors in lofts where PV inverters are installed. An Electrical Qualified Supervisor is required to be in post to ensure the training of CCDC electricians is up to date and that any introduced legislation is being adhered to.
“The Housing Maintenance team is currently understaffed to ensure the electrical safety of its employees and tenants.
"It is essential to recruit to a new Electrical Qualified Supervisor position so that the safety of CCDC employees and tenants is not compromised, and Housing Maintenance is adequately staffed to deliver its full array of services.”
Cabinet members approved the creation of the new post at a meeting on Thursday.
Deputy leader Councillor Bryan Jones said: “It’s a no brainer, there have been changes to legislation and we want to keep our people safe.”
