Professor David Ormandy Memorial Event

On 21 June the Law School at Warwick University hosted an event attended by around 50 friends and colleagues to remember the work of Professor David Ormandy, whose obituary for the CIEH I wrote in April.

A longer obituary written by Bill Randall appeared in The Guardian under the heading of "Activist who pressed for improvements to poor housing by highlighting the harm that it caused to residents’ health". Bill who had known David since the early 1970s was also there in person to recall some of their shared, sometimes amusing experiences as David had wry sense of humour who always preferred to be known as a public health inspector rather than EHO.

It might seem strange to some members of the environmental health profession that someone, who as Bill wrote was "bearded, long-haired and plugged into the 1970s counterculture", could engender the warm tributes at the event from some very distinguished lawyers. David's view was that his evidence in court should stand on its merits and his appearance should have no influence. Many lawyers with whom David worked over the years spoke in praise of his work. As Andrew Arden KC said he was the pioneer of independent environmental health expertise on behalf of tenants. David's evidence in Patel v. Mehtab (1980) 5 HLR 78, led the Divisional Court to what was in one sense an obvious conclusion - when there is a matter upon which the tribunal needs informed expert evidence on what is injurious to health (as here) it cannot substitute its own opinion. Recently retired judge Jan Luba KC also highlighted the work of David and included quotes from lawyers from different law centres with whom David had worked and provided help and support in cases over the years.

Roger Burridge former head of the Law School who had worked closely with David over the years pointed out he did not fit the archetypal figure of a law professor (whatever that maybe). He wasn’t a lawyer. He didn’t have a PhD. He drove exotic sports cars. When we were working together on Monitoring the Housing Fitness Standard (after the 1989 changes), he lived in a remote cottage in Wales and drove a Lotus Six. He eventually moved to live on a narrow boat. In other ways however he was a model of Warwick Law School’s distinctive approach to legal scholarship and research. "His focus was enquiry, understanding and explanation of law’s influence as well as its norms and procedures. His objective was to make law work for the issues he identified – the effects of inadequate dwellings upon those who lived in them. For David law was an activity."

Roger had recalled first meeting David when he was a pupil of Stephen Sedley (now Sir Stephen, whose health prevented him attending) then they got together again when he went to work with John Hendy at Newham Rights Centre. Lord John Hendy KC was there to say how David helped them as the centre's expert between 1974 and 1979 and with Hilary Fassnidge (also there to talk about David) took on cases for some of the many tenants in the dilapidated dwellings of war bashed Britain and their replacements, the concrete cells in the sky where ancient threats of damp, mould and misery accumulated.

There were video tributes from Dr Dave Jacobs of the US National Center for Healthy Housing, Matthias Braubach and Nathalie Roebbel of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Veronique Ezratty Direction Preventions Santé Sécurité Groupe with whom David worked on energy precarity, made the trip from Paris to pay tribute. This illustrates that respect for David was global and his involvement on housing and health stretched way beyond these shores.

Bill Randall recalled how David had been a member of PHILAG set up by public health inspectors frustrated with their professional body. Then with a grant from Shelter in 1974, David set up the Public Health Advisory Service (PHAS) to take action against local authorities (and other landlords) on behalf of tenants living in unhealthy conditions and two cases that showed that s.99 of the Public Health Act 36 (now s.82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990) could be used by tenants against their landlord (Nottingham City Council v Newton [1974] 1 WLR 923 and Salford City Council v McNally [1976] AC 379)

David's frustrations with the professional body remained throughout his life - and often vented at me. I recalled him storming out of an AGM in frustration that the organisation did not act on or develop policies in line with previous AGM resolutions that reflected his concerns and values. When I came to work at the CIEH in 1980 and I met up with David again we both thought of how much EHOs could do to help people living in poor conditions It was our view then that EHOs should understand the law and use it to resolve problems when too often they allowed themselves to be limited by local practice that might not reflect the law accurately. It was pointed out how his led us to the Background Notes on Condensation in 1983. We wanted people to stop blaming tenants for condensation and investigate properly. He also prepared Housing Law Updates for the CIEH in an effort to get EHOs to better understand the legislation they we supposed to be using.

Damp and mould is still an issue and too often still tenants are blamed. In England over one million homes with any damp problem and about half of these have condensation/mould. Hence the Routledge Focus on EH volume on Dampness in Dwellings that David led on. Earlier this year we had agreed to update it and we will continue with that in tribute.

Back in the 1980s our co-operation led to the CIEH partnering with the Law School on the first Unhealthy Housing conferences. These brought together a wide range of international researchers into the health hazards of the home. After I left the CIEH I worked on a number of research projects including those that led to the development of the HHSRS. Drafting the Operating Guidance was an interesting experience, as was liaising with the Department on the Regulations; dealing with civil servants could be a challenge. David was frustrated that the simple language guide for landlords was not given greater publicity.

We worked on the scoping study for the review of the HHSRS but our concerns about where this was going and how it was being done were considerable. What came out of the recent review justified his worries and were expressed in David's articles in Legal Action.

When I was editor of Clays Handbook of Environmental Health for me David was the obvious person to write the Housing Chapter.

His commitment to raising housing and health awareness and for people to be better informed can perhaps be best exemplified by his continued drafting up until just weeks before his death, of the Housing and Health Research Digests for the Healthier Homes Partnership.

Roger again suggested David would have just about endured the event (and at least be embarrassed or even horrified by the attention). Many could recall occasions when he took out his knitting whilst others spoke.

There was a feeling in the room that is ironic that for all that the recent progress that has been made, including by David, in alerting governments to the hazards of housing, here in Britain we have some of the most offensive housing conditions we have seen for years along with a huge increase in those who do not even have a home. Without resources for engagement, investigation, administration and enforcement, law is found only in the books and will be invisible on the streets. Whatever duties and responsibilities are imposed, without enforcement they will remain slogans. Empty claims to justify false intentions.

Andrew Arden again, "I think it is safe to assert that at the beginning of the 1970s, environmental health was in just such a stagnant state. It is also, in my view, beyond question that the person who took the lead and did most to drive it sideways, as a precondition of driving it forwards, was David Ormandy."

Many in the room were of a certain vintage but a question raised by a practising solicitor was where are the EHOs now doing what David was doing in the 1970s and 80s?