Borough to pay £2,000 after damning LGO report on housing of family

A London borough has agreed to pay out £2,000 after it housed a vulnerable family in cramped, temporary accommodation for 18 months before seeking to evict them with only nine days’ notice.

The complainant, ‘Miss Smith', told the Local Government Ombudsman that, in 2010, Southwark Council failed to treat her as homeless due to threats of violence against her and her family. Instead it moved her to temporary accommodation under its personal protection policy.

Southwark failed to keep her updated or involve her in any of the case reviews and abruptly terminated her temporary accommodation on 18 March 2012.

However, because the borough did not consider her case under the homelessness route she had no right to challenge its decision.

Miss Smith also complained to the LGO that Southwark took an excessively long time to respond to her complaint at stage two and failed to respond to the stage three complaint within a reasonable period of time.

Following an investigation, the Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, concluded that the local authority should have either treated Miss Smith as homeless or correctly and promptly followed its risk assessment process.

But Miss Smith was left in overcrowded unsuitable temporary accommodation with no right of redress for 18 months. When the temporary accommodation was terminated, the authority said the family should return to its permanent home.

The LGO said Southwark also failed to:

  • support Miss Smith to ensure she had a live housing application and that her housing benefit and council tax benefit claims were correctly made and reviewed;
  • ensure there was adequate liaison between all the departments involved in her case and that one department took responsibility for resolving the situation;
  • carry out adequate monitoring or review of her case;
  • communicate with Miss Smith on a regular basis in a meaningful way;
  • respond to her complaint in a reasonable period of time or take any action on the case while the complaint was being investigated; and
  • follow a documented procedure for terminating the temporary accommodation or provide any further support to her in terms of her housing options.

Southwark has agreed to the LGO’s recommendations, which included the payment of £2,000 to the family. It will also review its risk assessment decision and write off rent arrears caused by its failure to implement housing benefit policies correctly.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: “The council failed to take responsibility for resolving the situation, and as such the vulnerable family was caught in a black hole between different departments and agencies. To let this state of affairs drag on so long, and without any meaningful liaison with the family, is indefensible.

“However, I welcome the improvements Southwark has made to its procedures as a result of the investigation – we want councils to be able to learn from the complaints we receive about them and translate this into higher service standards for the public.”