Summary: Miss X complains that the Council wrongly refused to provide assistance to her and her family when she requested help to flee domestic abuse. The Council is at fault as it failed to refer Miss X to its homelessness team for assistance and inappropriately questioned her about domestic abuse. These faults caused Miss X and her family to be at risk of harm for four nights longer than necessary and caused distress to her. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice to Miss X by apologising to her and making symbolic payments to her and other members of her family who were affected.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council wrongly refused to provide assistance to her and her family when she requested help to flee domestic abuse. Miss X considers that the failure to help her caused significant distress and damaged her mental health.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We have the power to make recommendations to remedy the injustice experienced by complainants and members of the public affected by fault we identify. (Local Government Act 1974 s 31(2B)).
4. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have:

• Considered the complaint and the information provided by Miss X;
• Made enquiries of the Council and considered the information provided;
• Invited Miss X and the Council to comment on the draft decision. I considered the comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

7. Someone is homeless if they have no accommodation or if they have accommodation, but it is not reasonable for them [and anyone who lives with them to continue to live there. (Housing Act 1996, Section 175)
8. A council must secure interim accommodation for an applicant and their household if it has reason to believe the applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
9. If there is evidence that would give the authority reason to believe the applicant may be homeless as a result of domestic abuse the authority should make interim accommodation available to the applicant immediately whilst they undertake their investigations (paragraph 21.25, Homelessness Code of Guidance).
10. The Council has a two stage complaints procedure. Its procedure provides that it will respond at stage one of its procedure within 20 working days.

What happened

11. The following is a summary of the key facts relevant to my consideration of the complaint. It does not include everything that happened.
12. Miss X contacted the Council to request emergency accommodation to allow her and other members of her family to flee domestic abuse. The transcript of the call shows the officer dealing with Miss X’s call questioned her about her claims of domestic abuse and told her to go to the Police for help. This was wrong. The officer should have referred Miss X to its homelessness team for assistance. In response to my enquires, the Council has said the officer also inappropriately questioned Miss X regarding the domestic abuse.
13. Four days later Miss X approached the Council for assistance again. She has said this was because the domestic abuse had escalated. The Council provided interim accommodation to her and her family.
14. Miss X made a complaint about the Council’s failure to help when she made her first call. The Council upheld Miss X’s complaint and apologised to her for how the officer had dealt with the call. The Council said it would address the matter with the officer. The Council took 38 working days to respond to Miss X’s complaint.
15. Miss X escalated her complaint as she was concerned the Council had not taken her concerns seriously and she’d had to speak to the same officer about another matter. The Council advised it was unable to share the outcome of the action taken with the officer. It was unable to monitor calls into the Council and which officers answered the calls but Miss X could ask to be transferred to another officer. The Council also said it was reviewing the training needs of the teams.
16. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it has communicated the importance of following domestic abuse and homelessness procedures to officers during staff meetings. It has also reviewed its procedures to prevent a recurrence of the fault.
17. Miss X said the Council’s failure to provide assistance when she first called meant she had to live with the alleged perpetrator and with the risk of domestic abuse for four nights longer than necessary. Miss X said she feared for her life during this time. Miss X also said the officer’s inappropriate questioning caused significant distress to her. Miss X also considers the fault by the Council has also had a significant impact on her mental health.

Analysis

18. The Council has acknowledged the officer dealing with Miss X’s call did not follow the correct procedure and refer Miss X to its homelessness team for assistance. This is fault. The Council has also acknowledged that the officer inappropriately questioned Miss X about domestic abuse which is evidenced by the transcript of the call. This is fault.
19. As a result, Miss X and her family remained in a property with the alleged perpetrator and at risk of harm for four nights longer than necessary. The officer’s inappropriate questioning also caused avoidable distress to Miss X.
20. The Council took 38 working days to respond to Miss X’s complaint which is nearly twice the amount of time it should have taken. This delay will have also caused avoidable distress to Miss X.
21. The Council has apologised to Miss X for the faults in how the officer dealt with her call. But it did not offer a remedy to acknowledge the risk of harm to Miss X and her family as a consequence of the fault. On balance, I consider this to be fault. Had the Council offered a remedy then Miss X may not have made a complaint to the Ombudsman.
22. Miss X is seeking an apology from the officer concerned. It is proportionate to recommend the Council sends a further apology to Miss X and her family for the injustice caused. But we do not normally seek an apology from a specific officer as responsibility for the fault rests corporately with the Council.
23. I consider it is proportionate to recommend a symbolic payment of £500 to Miss X to acknowledge that the fault in the handling of her call caused her to live with the risk of harm for longer than necessary. Two other members of Miss X’s family also had to live with the risk of harm for four nights longer than necessary. The Council should therefore make symbolic payments of £500 each to them.
24. Miss X is concerned that she may have to speak to the officer again. The Council has taken appropriate action by advising Miss X that she can ask to speak to another officer.
25. I cannot disclose the action taken by the Council regarding the officer. But I am satisfied the Council has taken appropriate action. The Council has not provided evidence of its review of procedures. It should provide this evidence so we can be satisfied that it has taken the appropriate action to improve its services.

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Agreed action

26. That the Council will:
1. Send a written apology to Miss X and her family to acknowledge the risk of harm and distress caused to her by the fault in how the Council dealt with her call requesting assistance and for the delay in dealing with her complaint. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
2. Make a symbolic payment of £500 to Miss X to acknowledge the fault by the Council caused her to be at risk of harm for four days longer than necessary.
3. Make a symbolic payment of £500 each to the two members of Miss X’s family who were also at risk of harm for four days longer than necessary due to the fault by the Council.
4. Make a symbolic payment of £200 to Miss X to acknowledge the distress caused to her by the inappropriate questioning by the officer and for the distress caused by the delay in dealing with her complaint.
5. Provide evidence to show the Council has amended its procedures to ensure officers pass requests for assistance in fleeing domestic abuse to its homelessness team.
6. By training or other means, share the learning from this complaint with relevant officers to ensure officers are aware of the risks to people fleeing domestic abuse if there is fault in how the Council handles their approach for assistance.

The Council should take the action at a) to d) within one month and the action at e) and f) within six weeks of my final decision. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

27. Fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman