LGO report hits out at councils over dealings with homeless
The Local Government Ombudsman has hit out at local authorities over the practice of “gatekeeping”, where councils either delay or refuse – for no legitimate reason – to accept an application for help with a homelessness problem.
In a special report Dr Jane Martin said that, with the number of rough sleepers beginning to rise, local authorities needed to do more to stop inappropriate use of the strategy.
She warned that councils would be criticised for maladministration if they failed to meet their responsibilities to homeless people.
The report outlines a range of the serious mistakes some councils make when dealing with people with housing difficulties. These include: failing to do enough to prevent people becoming homeless; failing to look into whether a person needs help; failing to recognise an application for help; or failing to provide interim accommodation where someone is in priority need.
The LGO said councils should avoid:
- “using homelessness prevention activity to block or delay the consideration of a homelessness application
- insisting that applicants for help with homelessness must complete a specific form, or be interviewed by a specialist homelessness assessment officer
- placing the burden of proof on the applicant, stressing that authorities should make their own enquiries when considering applications, or
- deferring an application because an applicant appears a non-priority – applicants claiming immediate homelessness should be assessed on the day.”
The LGO currently investigates more than 300 complaints every year where people claim to have been denied access to help or interim accommodation for no legitimate reason.
The report urges councils to consider how they ensure people who face homelessness get the help that they are entitled to.
Dr Martin said: “The complaints we receive suggest councils should consider how they meet their responsibilities to homeless people. We see too many cases where individuals have suffered injustice at a particularly precarious moment in their lives when they most needed help.
"Often extremely vulnerable, they can find themselves sleeping rough or on people's sofas, struggling to find the foothold that would allow them to change their circumstances. When councils fail to give them a helping hand at that key moment, it can affect that individual for years.”
The Ombudsman added that she was concerned that more people could now suffer injustice because of the combined impact of a tough economic climate and the serious budget pressures on councils.
“It’s really important that councils are alert to this very significant risk,” she said. “We want to help them understand the dangers and take action to avoid mistakes.”
Cllr Gary Porter, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Environment and Housing Board, insisted that councils took the issue of homelessness very seriously and worked closely with charities to provide the best and most comprehensive support they possibly could.
“Local authorities across the country are targeting services at people most in need following the toughest budget settlement in living memory,” he said. “Clearly people who have become, or are at risk of becoming, destitute are a priority for any council.
"Councils work hard to co-ordinate and provide support and services to tackle issues like unemployment, poor health and substance abuse before they escalate into homelessness. It is right that they should have the flexibility to do this in a way which best meets the needs of people in their area.”
Cllr Porter added that the LGA felt this could be done “even more effectively” if the government reformed the public sector and devolved responsibility for allocating public money for all public services – from social housing to the health service – down to locally elected people.
