Published: 4 May, 2012

• DISCLOSING to criminals the witnesses’ complaints about their misdeeds is rightly viewed as “unforgiveable” by councillors (Witness data leak blunder, April 27).

But the councillors’ adjective could be equally applied, if not with more force, to the allocations policy of the council’s housing department.

This policy lets tenancies to individuals with a known history of anti-social behaviour.

Lettings procedures do not take the prospective tenants’ offending record into account.

Unlike many other authorities, there is no vetting filter, or in the jargon what is termed “conditionality”, in the letting of Islington’s properties.

In effect, the council is breaching all its responsibilities as landlord to provide its law-abiding and peaceable tenants with “quiet enjoyment” of the property.

Rather, it is making a decision to break that fundamental obligation.

This is the point which makes it a more unforgiveable act than inadvertently including the names of complainants on court documents.

The council’s allocations procedure consciously imposes criminal behaviour on law-abiding communities.

It is, of course, a complete farce too.

The council’s Asbo businesss now has a multi-million pound budget taken from taxpayers and siphoned through police and dedicated council officers.

The money is spent addressing a problem created in part by the council’s letting policy.

MICHAEL READ
Milner Square, N1