BASILDON Council's leader has threatened to sack its maintenance company unless it turns around the "diabolical state" of houses in the borough by Christmas.

Morgan Sindall is responsible for repairing and maintaining Basildon Council's housing but has been accused of not answering emergency callouts and leaving families in mould-ridden and dangerous homes by Labour councillors.

At last week's meeting, council leader Gavin Callaghan said the company's repairs and maintenance were taking too long and were often "botched", and unless things were drastically improved, they would be given the sack.

Morgan Sindall has hit back, however, saying Labour councillors had got their figures wrong and that the firm had delivered nearly 40,000 repairs last year.

During the full council meeting on February 13, Councillor Callaghan said: "We have invested an additional £16 milllion into the repairs and maintenance of our council properties. This is due to the diabolical state that our housing and repairs service finds itself in after three years in which the Tories completely lost control of housing.

"The current performance of this council's largest contractor is not acceptable; repairs are taking too long, and they are botched, so whilst I am investing more in the repairs service, I want to be clear if drastic improvements to the service have not been made and outcomes improved for residents by Christmas, I will sack Morgan Sindall."

Councillor Emma Callaghan added: "Dramatically improve your repair and maintenance services by Christmas, or we will sack you.  

"Emergency repairs take (….) up to a fortnight and calls to the helpline go unanswered for days while residents wait in cold, damp and dangerous conditions.

"This isn't just a failure of the last administration, it's about real people, real families left to suffer in silence. It's parents trying to shield their children from mould-infested walls and vulnerable tenants living with leaking ceilings and faulty electrics for weeks on end with no answers and no help. It's a betrayal of their trust and a direct assault on their dignity."

A Morgan Sindall Property Service spokesman said: "We are disappointed in the comments and inaccurate figures shared by Councillors Gavin and Emma Callaghan at the budget meeting , as this is not reflective of the service we provide to over 12,000 homes in Basildon. For clarity, in 2024 we delivered nearly 40,000 repairs to residents, which is 93 per cent of repairs raised by residents, with 2,673 repairs in progress.

"In the same year, 98 per cent of emergency repairs were completed in a 24-hour period in 2024.

"The average wait time for residents to raise a repair with our call centre is three minutes, not days as quoted at the meeting.

"Our operatives and customer team, many of which are Basildon residents are dedicated and passionate about the service we deliver, working closely with residents to fix their issues as quickly and efficiently as possible. It is clear from the comments raised we need to engage further with local councillors and residents and are doing this through the ward committee forums and our weekly resident drop-in sessions.

"We are aware that there are improvements to be made, and we are actively working with Basildon Council to streamline processes to positively impact the service for residents."