Barton House tenant who complained of disability discrimination wins apology from council

A Barton House tenant has received an apology from the city council after making a complaint over disability discrimination. Tenants at the tower block were evacuated in November while fire safety measures were carried out in several flats, including Stevan Jon Roche's property.

But the 56-year-old, who has arthritis in his back and hip, said he had to move all the furniture to enable the works earlier this year. While most tenants returned to the building at the end of February, Mr Roche remained in his property during the evacuation period.

He has now received an apology from Bristol City Council and £50 compensation for food costs while his kitchen was removed. The council apologises for not helping move furniture, but denies allegations of disability discrimination. Mr Roche wrote the complaint on January 27 but only received the response on March 21.

READ MORE: Barton House family's flat left 'a mess' after walls stripped for surveys

READ MORE: Council reassures Bristol tower block tenants after surveyor visit sparks concern

In response to the initial complaint, the fire safety team supervisor apologised but denied disability discrimination on behalf of the council. They said: “With regards to assisting you move furniture, we can only apologise as this message did not get passed on to the team responsible leaving you with no assistance. This was by no means a matter of discrimination against your disability, it was a matter of the team missing the passing of information down the line."

Mr Roche added that alongside the physical impact of having to move a lot of the furniture unassisted, he was forced to dismantle his bed which has since fallen apart. He has been left sleeping on a mattress on the floor ever since and claims damage to the property was caused by the work carried out.

"I've only just got all of the dust out of the house or at least the areas I'm living in. My house was like a building site for a month. Half my stuff is still packed up to this day.

"I never went to the hotel and those of us who haven't left have not been given any support whatsoever. I've got severe arthritis in my hip and my back, I've been in hotel beds before and they generally put my back out. They couldn't guarantee an orthopaedic mattress.

"We were told from the begining not to cook so I was living off takeaways and shop bought sandwiches at first anyway. On the very first day, one of the housing officers threatened several of the neighbours with court action to get us out but I knew my rights, " explained Mr Roche.

In his earlier written complaint to the council, Mr Roche added: “I was promised that I would receive help in getting things moved around my home to assist you in your work but this was never provided, leaving me with serious hip and back pain. Being a man with a disability, I truly feel BCC has not only failed me but is discriminating against me because of my disability.”

In the letter, BCC added: “This is no excuse but at the time there were a lot people involved in delivering the works in Barton House and for some reason unknown to me this information was not passed on. Once we realised this was a problem team members did come to your flat to move items to make this easier for you, but this did not help on the weekend in question.

“We can only apologise for any inconvenience the works to your flat may have caused, and for the delay in getting the agreed compensation payment to you. Hopefully you will accept our apologies in this instance.”

Mr Roche said that he would like additional compensation as the £50 he has so far been provided, only covers the initial weekend without cooking facilities. The council has advised Mr Roche that if he would like to take his initial complaint further then he would need to write an additional email and provide details of why the response has not resolved his complaint.

Bristol City Council has been approached for a comment.