Ombudsman raps council over failure to provide decision over homeless status
The Local Government Ombudsman has sharply criticised the London Borough of Barnet, accusing it of having “systemic problems” after a woman was turned away five times without receiving a decision on her homeless status.
According to the LGO, because Barnet failed to review the woman’s situation properly, she was “left street homeless over the winter months, and spent nights sofa surfing with friends or sleeping on the night bus”.
At one point she was hospitalised for 10 days due to a severe asthma attack, it added.
The LGO’s investigation found that the woman had first approached Barnet for help in January 2015 after she was evicted by her private landlord. The council provided her with a place in a hostel for three nights, but failed to determine whether it had a duty to her as a homeless person.
The woman approached Barnet four further times over the following 15 months, but on each occasion she was told she was not a priority need and given advice on contacting charities for support.
“On no occasion did the council give her a formal decision about her homeless status, that they are legally obliged to do,” the LGO said, adding that this meant she had no way of challenging the council’s decision.
The Ombudsman investigated the case after receiving a complaint from the woman and her father.
According to the LGO, the council claimed during the investigation that if it “were to issue formal decisions to all those seeking housing assistance there would be significant challenges with the number of Housing Needs officers being required to conduct such a high volume of assessments and write the subsequent decision letters.”
The council’s homelessness service is delivered by Barnet Homes.
On receipt of the complaint Barnet apologised to the woman and offered her temporary accommodation, which she has refused.
The LGO has recommended that the council:
- provide the woman with a written decision on her homelessness application;
- pay her £300 to reflect her lost review and appeal rights;
- pay the woman’s father £200 to reflect his time and trouble in complaining on behalf of his daughter; and
- ensure that in future, homelessness applications are taken and decision letters issued in all appropriate cases.
Local Government Ombudsman Michael King said: “Councils are legally required to issue a written decision to people who approach them as homeless. Without this those people are left in limbo; denied their review and appeal rights, and are potentially without access to accommodation which they might need.
“The LGO issued a special report on councils’ duties to homeless people in 2011 and I am disappointed to see councils are still making errors in this area. As shown in this report, failing to deal with homeless people properly can have very real and serious consequences for some of the most vulnerable in society.”
