9:34 AM, 18th November 2024, About a month ago 6
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A council has sparked outrage after refusing to comply with a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s order to pay compensation to a domestic abuse victim.
The woman, who was forced to flee her home with her children, was left without adequate support from Leicester City Council.
Despite repeated pleas for help, the council failed to respond to her concerns about unsuitable accommodation and delayed in fulfilling its housing duty.
The Ombudsman recommended that the council apologise to the victim and pay her £500 for the distress caused by its inaction.
The council was also ordered to pay £1,300 for the family’s prolonged stay in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation and £150 per month for any further time spent in such conditions.
However, the council has not agreed to the recommendations.
Phil Turtle of Landlord Licensing and Defence said the stance by Leicester City Council proves that the Ombudsman is ‘toothless’ and doesn’t have any powers to make the council pay.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Amerdeep Somal, said: “While I acknowledge the work Leicester City Council has already done to improve its support for homeless people in the city, and its acceptance of the service improvements I have recommended, I am disappointed with its reluctance to fully acknowledge what has gone wrong in this case.
“It is not accepting the gravity of the injustice to this family by not agreeing the pay the financial remedy I have recommended.
“The law states that families should only be put in bed and breakfast accommodation as a last resort, and this should be for no longer than six weeks.”
The family was in bed and breakfast accommodation for 19 weeks – split over two rooms with no access to cooking facilities.
Elly Cutkelvin, Leicester’s deputy city mayor for housing, told the Leicester Mercury that there were no families living in B&B accommodation five years ago.
But the housing crisis means there are now 171 families in B&Bs and another 365 in other temporary accommodation, such as hotels and self-contained flats.
She said: “If a precedent were set by the Ombudsman’s recommendation, we would have to pay out £220,000 in recompense – money we simply don’t have.
“Along with almost every other council in the country, we have limited ability to create the extra housing that would be needed to avert the need to keep families in B&B for more than six weeks and are therefore hostage to forces beyond our control.”
Ms Cutkelvin says there are more than 100,000 families around the country living in unsuitable temporary accommodation – and it would cost £130 million if councils had to pay them compensation.
She adds that the council is investing more than £350 million in affordable housing over the last six years and delivering 1,200 homes to tackle this issue.
The council has also approved £45 million of funding for 225 temporary accommodation units for families and individuals, and 125 property leases.
Ms Cutkelvin said: “We do accept that there were some failings in our service in this case.
“We are sorry for this and have apologised to the family concerned. Staff training and recruitment is under way to ensure these failings are not repeated.”
However, Mr Turtle of Landlord Licensing and Defence said there will be landlords who wish they could simply ignore a council’s demand for fines or licensing payments.
He told Property118: “The action by Leicester shows that the Ombudsman is toothless and doesn’t have any powers to make any council accountable allowing them to run riot and out of control.
“But the fact that the council can simply ignore the order to pay compensation because it’s too much just doesn’t wash.”
He adds: “Councils don’t have any problem imposing huge fines totalling multiple £10,000’s on private landlords that destroy their business for minor mistakes – but they don’t get to ignore the fine.
“The council shouldn’t do so either.”
Tim Rogers
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Sign Up10:52 AM, 18th November 2024, About a month ago
Let us hope that some nice kind charity, such as shelter, takes up her cause and takes the whole matter to the courts. It might be amusing to see what happened, if the council still refused to pay, always assuming they lost the case of course.
Ma'at Housing Solutions
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Sign Up11:02 AM, 18th November 2024, About a month ago
The failings of Leicester City Council to comply with their statutory duties to this domestic abuse survivor, is unfortunately all too common of local authorities generally.
As a former local authority housing & homeless officer, the level of inhumanity and maladministration witnessed in local authority housing options / homeless teams is appalling!
I could not agree more with Mr Turtle of Landlord Licensing & Defence's criticism of local councils.
I can assure you that if the housing officer in this particular case and the temporary accommodation team at Leicester Council had complied with their duties under the Homeless Reduction Act 2017 and part 7 Housing Act 1996 with humanity and diligence, the failings by Leicester City Council resulting in the Ombudsman's findings and recommendation for redress, may not have happened...
Reluctant Landlord
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Sign Up20:31 PM, 18th November 2024, About a month ago
Point 1. I actually agree with the council and their reasons for not paying out further 'compensation'. Yes it will open the floodgates for more claims like this and money will simply disappear into paying out for compensation and claims anyone makes, because yes the council HAS NO SUITABLE accommodation for the majority of people on its housing lists! Name one council that does??
Is the govt going to then pay out more money to displace the temp accommodation money that has now been diverted to pay compensation? Or are councils going to just lump it on to council tax bills? Will some councils declare effective bankruptcy or a localised housing emergency, as a result?
Clearly this council (like others not yet taken to the Ombudsman for the same/similar complaint) simply has not got the right accommodation available that is needed. Is the Ombudsman that stupid that it doesn't recognise that the council know they are at fault but can do very little/nothing about about it?
This is a sign that even the Ombudsman has not got a grip on what the reality is out there. Talk about making a decision on the bloody obvious. Bravo they made a decision - one that may now cause more to be put into unsuitable accommodation as the money is diverted to paying out on claims.
Point 2. Yes it will be interesting to see where this goes and ends up. Looks like a FOI could be requested to Leicester Council in say 6 months time to see what really happened in the end....
Point 3. Will there be some 'external' pressure put on the Ombudsman in some way (nudge nudge wink wink) to either prolong decisions on cases like these (to deter others from applying) or perhaps to dumb down the compensation amounts (to the point it's not worth taking them to the Ombudsman in the first place)???
Ultimately if the council refuses to pay, I suppose there is no reason for those well known tenant champion organisations to get involved to back the tenant either....nothing to hit the headlines.
Wonder how many councils will now refuse to pay compensation of any kind when ordered to do so because there is simply no comeback at all if you don't.
One to watch!
Ma'at Housing Solutions
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Sign Up11:52 AM, 19th November 2024, About a month ago
Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 18/11/2024 - 20:31
I was not aware that councils are 'diverting money from their Temporary Accommodation budget' to pay compensation for statutory failures?
That would be an abject failing by the service directors responsible for temporary accommodation...
Ian Narbeth
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Sign Up12:22 PM, 19th November 2024, About a month ago
If a private landlord "does not have the money" does that excuse not paying recompense? Ah, thought not.
GlanACC
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Sign Up8:02 AM, 23rd November 2024, About 4 weeks ago
The council makes a good point, I don't blame it for not paying.