Ombudsman outlines concerns around Council refusing culpability after failing to house a homeless family

The original investigation and recommendations, published in October last year, detailed how a woman and her children escaped domestic abuse and asked Leicester City Council for help with housing.

The Ombudsman upheld the family’s complaint and recommended the council pay a financial remedy to the family and improve its services.

The council agreed to make some changes but refused to pay most of the financial remedy.

The suggested financial remedy came in the form of a symbolic payment of £1,300 and a further £150 a month for every month they remain in unsuitable temporary accommodation.

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said:

“It is incredibly rare for local councils not to accept our recommendations and so we do not take the decision to write to the Secretary of State with our concerns lightly.

The council appears to be rejecting our findings because it does not believe it should be accountable for leaving a homeless family in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than the law allows because of a wider housing crisis.

The law was made to protect homeless families from being left in unsuitable accommodation for prolonged periods.

We cannot hold the council to a lower or different threshold. Many other councils face similar challenges and agree to our recommendations, acknowledging the impact unsuitable accommodation has on homeless households.”

Ms Somal states that as each investigation is based on unique circumstances, a remedy in one case does not necessarily become applicable to others.

She believes that Leicester City Council’s refusal to make the payments means the family has not received any “proper recognition” of the issues they faced.

A city council spokesman said: “We are currently considering the Ombudsman’s second report and will be notifying their office of the action we intend to take in due course.

“As we received the report while finalising the agenda for our next full council meeting, the council’s Monitoring Officer has submitted it to the meeting so that councillors have the opportunity to review it before any final decision on the next steps is taken.”