UNDER-fire housing chiefs have pledged to clear a huge backlog of 1,500 repairs throughout Inverclyde by the end of the summer.
The ambitious announcment by River Clyde Homes comes in the wake of huge criticism from councillors amid accusations of bosses presiding over 'slum housing'.
RCH chief executive Richard Turnock responded to a letter from Inverclyde Council setting out the concerns raised at a meeting of the full local authority regarding conditions endured by tenants for years.
Mr Turnock admitted there were challenges and a need to eradicate a long backlog and said they now had action plans in place.
A Telegraph investigation revealed last November that RCH had a total of 1,559 repair related work orders beyond its target timescale.
Despite the pledge from Mr Turnock, Councillor Tommy McVey - an outspoken critic of the housing association's performance - insists they have still failed to explain how they will address the long term repairs that have left some people waiting 11 YEARS.
In the response Richard Turnock said: "We take every aspect of customer service very seriously, including instances of any service failure. I acknowledge the deep sense of frustration that some of our customers are experiencing because of various delays. and I can confirm that we do have appropriate action plans in place to deal with the various concerns raised within the motion.
"Although we have yet to eradicate our repairs and capital backlog, at this juncture, I am pleased to highlight that we are making progress, Almost half of the backlog cases that existed last December are scheduled to be completed by the end of this month.
"It is accepted that this is scant consolation for those customers who still await their repairs, however, we do maintain communication with them, and we are aiming to eradicate the rest of the backlog by the end of this summer."
Council chief executive Louise Long wrote to River Clyde Homes on the back of Councillor's McVey's motion setting out the concerns.
During the debate councillor after councillor set out in detail the failings their constituents had experienced time after time with River Clyde Homes.
As a result of this RCH has now offered to meet Councillor McVey to discuss try to resolve the ongoing issues in ward that led to the motion.
Speaking after receiving the response Councillor McVey said: "I am disappointed that the RCH response does not mention long term repairs at any point, as this was the crux of my motion to the last meeting of the full council and also the source of immense frustration to myself and those residents who have been waiting for years for repairs to be carried out.
"To be fair to RCH they have now agreed to meet me to try and resolve the long term cases I have in ward 7 which is good, so perhaps every cloud has a silver lining."
"I fully accept that in every large organisation things can go wrong but it is how you deal with the situation which is key and that is where I think RCH have been found wanting in the past.
"Moving forward, I will continue to engage with RCH for the benefit of the residents of ward 7 and I would hope that collectively we have turned a corner but ultimately time will tell.
Setting out River Clyde Homes position the Chief Executive said that they had recruited senior leadership positions to drive through improvements.
River Clyde Homes also set out other actions including a series of ward clinics to address issues.
They also pointed to a customer survey which they say highlighted strong levels of satisfaction.
But Mr Turnock said: "These results are not a cause for celebration we certainly recognise that there is more that we can do and our action plans reflect this.
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