Overview:

Key to names used

• Mr B The complainant

Summary

We have written this further report because the Council has refused to comply with some recommendations made in our report issued on 18 August 2025.Although the Council has complied with some of our service improvement recommendations, it has refused to remedy all the personal injustice caused to Mr B by the Council’s fault. It has also refused to remind its staff about the correct test and threshold for considering interim accommodation when someone is homeless. We are not satisfied with the Council’s response to our recommendations. We have therefore issued this further report to highlight our continuing concerns.

Finding

Fault found causing injustice and recommendations made.

Recommendations

To remedy the injustice caused to Mr B and to improve its service, the Council should ensure full compliance with the recommendations set out in the original report. It should provide evidence of this without delay.

The recommendations which remain outstanding are that the Council should:

• apologise to Mr B for the lack of suitable accommodation and the distress this caused to him in early 2024;
• pay Mr B £875 to recognise the lack of that accommodation and distress;
• pay Mr B a further £300 to recognise the added distress caused by him being avoidably street homeless during that time; and
• remind its homelessness staff of the correct test and threshold for the interim accommodation duty, in particular that the threshold for this is a low one.

The Council must consider this report and confirm within three months the action it has taken or proposes to take. If the Council’s officers or cabinet are minded to recommend refusal of our recommendations, this further report must be considered at Full Council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 31A(1A))

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