Labour councillors in North West Leicestershire say they are highly dissatisfied with the Tory/Lib Dem administration's new policies on dealing with private landlords.

Last week they challenged a decision by the new regime's cabinet on staffing levels in the housing enforcement department with a technical move known as a "call-in", but this challenge has been over-ruled.

Labour Chair of the Community Scrutiny Committee, Terri Eynon, said: "Before the election, the Council's Fuel Poverty Working Group concluded that the council's housing standards enforcement unit was woefully understaffed, with only 1.2 full time equivalent staff.

"This means that the service is purely reactive, only picking up private tenants' complaints rather than proactively inspecting rented accommodation to ensure landlords are complying with their legal obligations to provide safe, secure and dry accommodation which meets energy efficiency regulations.

"In January, the cabinet accepted the recommendation that two further full-time staff were required in order to provide a proactive service and sought to fund them from an external grant.

"But, last week the new council's Tory/Lib Dem cabinet approved a set of private housing policies which made no mention of the need for much improved staffing levels for private housing enforcement and accepted that the service was only reactive.

"The accompanying papers ignored the previous Community Scrutiny and Fuel Poverty Working Group's recommendations.

"When we challenged this decision, we were told that the external funding had not been forthcoming so the need for additional staff had fallen by the wayside with no further discussion of alternative funding streams."

Labour's Community Services spokesperson, Alison Morley, added: "Labour stood in the May election with a pledge to clamp down on rogue landlords and strengthen the Council's enforcement teams.

"We won more seats than any other party on the Council, but the voters' wishes are being ignored by the new Tory/LibDem coalition which is only in power through a chair's casting vote.

"Private renters deserve far better from their council."

Labour Group Leader, Councillor Sean Sheahan, was equally defiant and added: "We don't accept Tory/Lib Dem inaction on private sector housing enforcement and we will continue to press the Council to adopt Labour's 'Good Landlord Charter'.'"