Homeless young must not be housed in B&Bs, even in emergencies: LGO

The Local Government Ombudsman has warned councils that bed and breakfast accommodation should not be used to house young homeless people, even in an emergency.

The LGO's comments came after an investigation into Lancashire County Council, which housed a vulnerable teenager with significant behavioural problems in a B&B when his home life broke down.

The boy, who was a cannabis user, had left the special school he had been attending in July 2013. He moved in with his father as his mother was finding it difficult to deal with his violent behaviour.

During the time the teen lived with his father, his behaviour and drug use became increasingly problematic; he was arrested and bailed on several occasions.

In November 2013 Lancashire completed its Core Assessment of the teenager’s needs without consulting his mother, and acknowledged the process had taken too long. The council offered the father and the teenager a support package which they declined.

A child in need plan was drawn up which said a worker from Lancashire’s Youth Offending Team (YOT) would provide support for the teenager.

When the YOT worker met the family he had concerns about the boy’s behaviour; he felt the teen was aggressive and volatile and was capable of carrying out violent threats.

After one particular threat, the teenager was arrested and held in police custody for two days until his court appearance.
 The court bailed the boy and directed that he should live and sleep as directed by the council.

As no family members were willing or able to take him in, Lancashire’s Children’s Services department placed him in public B&B accommodation.

This was despite his YOT worker’s concerns about his level of violence, and without any consultation with the council's housing department.


The teenager spent five days in B&B accommodation. According to the LGO report, during that time the council did not carry out a new assessment of his needs – “something that it is required to do by statutory guidance on homeless young people”.

The Ombudsman reported that the council did not realise that in providing him with accommodation it was treating him as a ‘looked after child’. The first time the council visited him at the B&B, was two days into his stay.

The teenager’s mother complained to Lancashire about how it managed the family’s situation. She was not happy with the council’s handling of her complaint and contacted the Ombudsman.

The LGO found fault causing injustice. Lancashire has agreed to implement the Ombudsman's recommendations which were that it should:

• apologise to the mother for failing to involve her in its 'child in need assessments' and for the additional time it took to consider her complaint at all three stages of the statutory complaints procedure.
• pay the mother £200 “for the frustration caused by not being able to contribute to her son’s assessments and increase its offer for the additional time and trouble she spent in pursuing her complaint to £300”;
• improve its policy for homeless 16 and 17 year olds to include reference to B&B accommodation not being suitable “even in an emergency” and ensure its children’s services staff are aware of this condition;
• ensure it does not place homeless 16 and 17 year olds in B&B accommodation including the use of unsupported hotels even in an emergency. If the council decides to act in breach of the statutory guidance, the decision to do so should continue to be made by the head of service, whose decision and reasons should be recorded on the childe's file;
• ensure it records important decisions on a child’s case file when considering providing accommodation to a 16 or 17 year old covering such areas as: whether a section 20 duty arises; whether it is obliged to conduct a new initial assessment of the child's needs now they are homeless; how it has explained the implications of becoming a 'looked after child' to the young person; any refusal by the young person to become a 'looked after child' and how it explained that assistance may be available to them from the housing department; any contact with the council's housing department after a young person who requires accommodation refuses to become a 'looked after child';
• carry out a review of whether it is meeting its sufficiency duty regarding the provision of sufficient accommodation for its 'looked after children'.

The Local Government Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, said:
 “Placing homeless young people in bed and breakfast accommodation – even in an emergency – breaches statutory guidance, which exists to ensure vulnerable young people are not left to cope unsupported, alone and at risk of exploitation.

“We shared our findings on councils’ inappropriate use of B&B accommodation to house families and children in a national report in 2013, and it is troubling that I am still reporting on individual cases like this.

“I am particularly concerned that the council is struggling to meet its obligation to have sufficient appropriate accommodation, and is therefore unable to confirm this situation would not arise again. The publication of this report gives local councillors the opportunity to ask questions of their authority to establish whether it can accommodate vulnerable homeless young people like the teenager involved here.”