TWO councils in Wales failed to respond to tenants’ complaints about damp and mould in their homes, the Welsh public services watchdog has found.

The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has issued two public interest reports, published today, about what it called “significant failings” at Cardiff and Flintshire councils.

The ombudsman said Cardiff Council missed numerous opportunities over nearly four years to properly investigate and resolve the causes of a significant leak and extensive damp and mould.

The second report said that Flintshire Council failed to appropriately respond to repeated reports of damp and mould, leaving a tenant and her children living for five months in unacceptable conditions.

Ombudsman Michelle Morris said: “I want to acknowledge the impact of these failings on the complainants.

“A home should be a place of peace and safety — but for the people who brought these complaints to us, it became a hazard.”

Ms Morris decided to publish the reports so that the failings highlighted could be a lesson to other organisations.

She added: “I hope that the experiences of Ms C and Miss Y will serve as a powerful reminder to social landlords across Wales of the potentially devastating human impacts of delayed and inadequate responses to reports of disrepair or damp and mould.”

Sam Swash of Flintshire People’s Voice, comprised of former Labour councillors, said his erstwhile party had abandoned its values and let people down.

“As a socialist party, we will always stand with tenants against bad landlords,” he said.

“What’s worse is that in this case, the bad landlord is the very council that is supposed to protect residents.

“This is yet another example of Labour abandoning the very values they claim to stand for, and letting our communities down.

“Tenants can’t get basic repairs, yet the council is rushing through multimillion-pound tax breaks for big business.”

A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “We acknowledge the findings of the ombudsman’s investigation and accept all the recommendations made.

“The service provided to the contract holder was poor and fell well below the standards we expect and we apologise unreservedly for this.”

Vicky Clark, Flintshire Council’s chief officer for housing and communities, said: “We acknowledge the findings of the ombudsman report and accept that, on this occasion, our response fell short of the standards we set and expect.

“We sincerely apologise to the tenant for any stress and inconvenience caused.

“Since this case, we have made changes to how we respond to reports of damp and mould. We now have processes in place to actively monitor all reports to ensure any concerns are dealt with efficiently and effectively.”