Summary: Miss X complained the Council intended to withdraw the accommodation it provided to her and her children under the Children Act. There was no fault in how the Council made its decision to withdraw the accommodation it provided to Miss X.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council intended to withdraw the accommodation it provided to her and her children under the Children Act. She said the Council had not provided the support and offers of accommodation it claimed to have done. She said that if the Council withdraws its support, she and her children will be homeless.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
5. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered:
• the information Miss X provided and discussed the complaint with her;
• the Council’s comments on the complaint and the supporting information it provided; and
• relevant law.
7. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Services for children in need

8. Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 says councils must safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.
9. A child is in need if:
• they are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development unless the council provides support;
• their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired unless the council provides support; or
• they are disabled.
10. Councils can meet this duty by providing services, which can include accommodation. The Children Act duties are owed to the children, not their parents or carers, although in most cases families are kept together and councils can provide services to the child’s parents or carers if appropriate.

What happened

11. Miss X applied to the Council as homeless in early 2020. Around this time the Council decided Miss X’s 16-year-old daughter, Y, was a child in need, mainly due to the lack of a permanent home. The Council says it still considers Y in need, but that Miss X has not attended any of the child in need review meetings it has invited her to.
12. In March 2021, the Council made its final review decision about Miss X’s homelessness application. It decided Miss X was intentionally homeless and it no longer had a duty to house her. However, it decided to continue to provide Miss X with accommodation under section 17 of the Children Act, to meet Y’s needs. It wrote to Miss X and explained this was a temporary measure while it provided her with further help to find suitable accommodation. It told her this would likely be private rented property.
13. Between June 2021 and February 2022, the Council said it encouraged and supported Miss X to find private rented property and made two separate offers of private rented property from its own in-house letting agency. The Council said Miss X refused both offers.
14. In late February 2022, the Council told Miss X it intended to stop providing her with accommodation. It said Miss X had failed to engage with the support it had offered and she had refused the accommodation it had offered her.

The Council’s response to my enquiries

15. In its response to my enquiries, the Council explained it still considered Y to be in need. However, it had decided it was no longer appropriate to meet her needs by providing Miss X with accommodation. It explained the alternative services and options it intended to consider to ensure Y’s wellbeing.

My findings

16. The Council no longer has a duty to house Miss X. This ended when the Council decided she was intentionally homeless. We considered Miss X’s complaint about this in a different investigation.
17. Miss X says the Council has not provided her with any support to find accommodation. However, the Council has explained the steps it took to support Miss X and the offers of accommodation it made, since it decided it no longer had a duty to house her. On the balance of probabilities, I am satisfied the Council continued to offer reasonable rehousing support to Miss X after it no longer had a duty to house her.
18. It is not our role to decide if the Council should continue to provide accommodation to Miss X under section 17 of the Children Act; that is the Council’s responsibility. Our role is to assess whether the Council made its decision properly. We cannot question a decision the Council has made if it followed the right steps and considered relevant evidence.
19. I am satisfied the Council has considered the available evidence of Y’s needs, the impact on Y of no longer providing Miss X with accommodation and the alternative options to support Y. It gave Miss X the opportunity to take part in that decision making and explained why it considers withdrawing the accommodation will not harm Y’s wellbeing.
20. Since the Council considered the available evidence and properly explained its decision, I cannot question the Council’s decision to withdraw the accommodation it is providing to Miss X.

Back to top

Final decision

21. I have completed my investigation. There was no fault in how the Council made its decision to withdraw the accommodation it provides to Miss X under the Children Act.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman