How a council dealt with the story of the ‘worst housing conditions in Britain’

Leaking ceilings, black mould and risks of electrocution.

These are just some of the living conditions highlighted by a series of TV news reports this week.

And they have put the council responsible for the housing firmly in the media spotlight.

Many journalists cutting their teeth on local newspaper will have covered stories of poor living conditions – I remember reporting on plenty.

But the situation seen in two blocks of flats in Croydon was so severe it has been covered on the national ITV news.

In fact, it led the 10pm programme for two days, including on Tuesday, the day the country marked a year of lockdown and stopped to consider what had happened during the past 12 months.

Viewers were shown footage of soaking wet floors, walls taken over by black mould, and possessions destroyed by the grim conditions. And they were informed residents had been raising concerns about the state of the tower block since 2019.

Are these the worst council housing conditions in Britain?

These are some of the appalling conditions ITV News found people living in at a London tower block. Residents' repeated calls to the council for repairs were ignored.

More from @DanielHewittITV: https://t.co/7Y3Z26AUsC pic.twitter.com/em86Y7LkQ8

— ITV News (@itvnews) March 22, 2021

Polly Neate, the chief executive of Shelter, described the conditions as “probably the worst” she had seen. That was a view shared by Dame Judith Hackitt, who led the government’s independent inquiry into building safety and regulation following the Grenfell Tower fire.

So, how has the council managed its time in the media spotlight?

Well, on the first day of reporting, it “denied” ITV’s request for interviews and opted for a short statement instead.

It said: “We were very concerned to learn of these issues at these properties, and the photographs we have seen show conditions that are clearly not acceptable.

“We are sorry that these residents have not had the level of care for their homes that they rightly expect, and we will be looking into what has happened as a matter of urgency.”

I think that statement could certainly have displayed more empathy and sounded more heartfelt.

But the bigger question is whether it should have been using a statement at all. This is something we have discussed in our media training blogs before.

While writing down what you want to say might sound like a safe choice, interviews – if done well - enable organisations to potentially change the way a story is presented.

And it can be much easier for organisations to show compassion, reassurance, and care through an interview than through written words.

As well as often making organisations seem defensive, statements are also typically only used at the end of a report once everyone else has had their say.

To her credit, council leader Hamida Ali stepped forward and was interviewed for the report the following day.

Not surprisingly, it was a challenging interview, where she faced many difficult questions.

News at Ten viewers saw a clip of her stumbling over a question asking why she had not yet been to see the flats, before claiming that she had “not yet had the opportunity”.

Another clip of the interview saw her face a question five times about whether she felt “personal shame” over the living conditions in the flats. She ended up saying that she did, which made you wonder why it took so many attempts.

.@DanielHewittITV asks Croydon's council leader five times if she is personally ashamed to be leading a council that presided over living conditions described as 'the worst seen.'

This is what her answer was:https://t.co/JVQ1CdlF6O pic.twitter.com/ajx3iBLZMV

— ITV News (@itvnews) March 23, 2021

And she said she “couldn’t answer” the question of whether similar living conditions were experienced in the borough’s other tower blocks.

ITV later put the full recording of the virtual video on YouTube and the theme of Cllr Ali struggling with the personal questions continued. The councillor had particular difficulties with questions on why she had not been in touch with one of the residents who has now been moved to a hotel.

The appalling housing conditions we found in Croydon ask many, many serious questions of the council.

Last night, Croydon’s council leader finally agreed to an interview with us.

Here is the full 17 minute exchange: https://t.co/xyv1Z43mM2

— Daniel Hewitt (@DanielHewittITV) March 24, 2021

When she said she had not yet “had the opportunity”, reporter Daniel Hewitt asked: “What have you been doing that is more important than contacting the woman living in the worst housing conditions in Britain?”

As I said, it was a tough line of questioning. But given the nature of the living conditions, that should have been expected.

The key here is preparation and an understanding that things could get personal.

Often in interviews like this, spokespeople will have the message their organisation wants to get across clear in their heads.

But they struggle when the questions ask about their involvement or their opinions.

Personal questions, however, can usually be anticipated and responses planned.

If you are the leader of a council at the centre of a housing story like this, it should not come as a surprise to be asked whether or not you are “ashamed”, whether you’ve seen the accommodation and if you’ve been in contact with residents. They are fairly obvious approaches for the journalist to take.

Good interview preparation would have identified the lack of communication with the resident and not seeing the accommodation as particular risks where “I’ve not yet had the opportunity” would carry little weight as a response.

Additionally, there seemed to be too much that Cllr Ali did not know. While we stress on our media training that there is nothing wrong with spokespeople occasionally admitting they don’t know the answer to a particular question – it is far better than being drawn into speculating – it cannot become the default position.

As the journalist in this report asked: “Why do you appear to not know the answer to anything?”

The story is a reminder to councils – and other organisations – they need to have spokespeople available who can deal with tough questions and hostile interviews. It also serves to show local authorities their media interactions are not necessarily restricted to local or regional journalists.

To help with this, we have created a new online media training course specifically for councillors. It guides delegates through all the crucial media training theory that enables spokespeople to communicate with clarity and confidence.

And there is an additional option that enables councillors to put what they have learnt to the test in a session with one of our current working journalist tutors. You can find out more about the training here. 

With the media focus likely to remain on poor accommodation for some time – ITV has already said it has been “inundated” with examples from “across the country” – more councils could soon find themselves in the spotlight.

Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers. 

Click here to find out more about our journalist-led media training courses.