The chief executive of a housing association has been 'removed' from his role after two-year-old boy Awaak Ishak died from exposure to mould.
An inquest into the death of Awaak, who died in December 2020, recently found that the two-year-old died from a respiratory condition caused by mould in the flat where he lived with his parents in Rochdale.
Gareth Swarbrick had been the chief executive of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), but today (19 November) it was announced that he would no longer continue in that role.
RBH received multiple complaints about the mould from Awaak's family before he died.
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Swarbrick had previously said that he wouldn't be resigning from his position as he had been given the 'full backing and trust' after speaking the RBH's board.
However, he has now left his role despite RBH chair Alison Tumilty saying she had 'full confidence' in Swarbrick's leadership.
RBH released a statement announcing that Swarbrick would no longer continue in his role following the results of the inquest, and stressed that changes had been made since Awaab's death.
It said: "Our original instincts were for Gareth to stay on to see the organisation through this difficult period and to make the necessary changes, but we all recognise that this is no longer tenable.
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"The coroner noted that RBH had made changes as a result of the tragic death of Awaab. Under new leadership, RBH will continue to embed these changes and to continue to drive further improvements to our homes and to our communications with tenants."
"We are committed to sharing what we have learnt about the impact to health of damp, condensation and mould with the social housing sector, and to supporting sector-wide changes. We will work with other agencies local and national and with central government in implementing the wider changes recommended to them by the coroner."
Housing secretary Michael Gove had said it was 'beggars belief that this guy is still in office' before the announcement that he would be leaving after all.
Awaab's parents, mum Aisha Amin and dad Faisal Abdullah, have said they want to see their son's death become a 'defining moment' for the housing sector.
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In a statement released on Friday (18 November), they said they had seen 'nothing to indicate' that Awaab's death was being anything close to that.
They said: "At present, we see nothing to indicate that the death of our son will, in any way, serve as a defining moment.
"ccountability must be done and be seen to be done. RBH have an opportunity to demonstrate to society at large, their residents and not least us as a family that they understand the gravity of this situation."
"We await further action from RBH."
Joe Harker