Summary: We found fault by the Council on Mr Y’s complaint about it failing to act on his reports while living in temporary accommodation. There were failures with the recording of some reports and reviews. The Council agreed to provide an apology and review its record keeping to make improvements.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains about the Council failing to act on his reports about the risk to his safety from another resident in the supported hostel he lived in because of prejudice towards him: as a result, when he complained, a support worker there became aggressive towards him which caused him to leave and become street homeless as he longer felt safe there.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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(1), as amended)
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Mr Y, the Council’s response to my enquiries, as well as relevant law, policy, and guidance. I sent a copy of my draft decision to Mr Y and the Council. I considered their responses including a timeline log of events Mr Y provided with his response.

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What I found

5. Mr Y approached the Council about being homeless in June 2025 after a relationship breakdown. His application said he had no support needs. The Council placed him in interim accommodation after accepting it owed him an interim duty to provide accommodation.
6. In September, it moved him to a hostel (temporary accommodation) While there, he complained to the Council about staff behaviour and attitude towards him, as well as that of one resident. He believes the Council failed to take effective action on his reports due to his sexual orientation and health. The inaction made him feel more vulnerable as someone who is an LGBTQ survivor of domestic abuse.
7. His said his reports to staff included:

• one resident opening his parcel;
• the same resident stalking him, which included peering through his window and also taking photographs of him;
• both residents were spying on him which made him uncomfortable;
• lack of supervision and support, especially after an operation, which left him feeling unsafe;
• residents in and out of each other’s rooms which breached the tenancy agreement and talking too loudly on mobile phones;
• lack of staff for two days;
• shower use by residents early in the morning and late at night which was noisy;
• failing to clean up in the kitchen; and
• aggressive and unprofessional behaviour of a staff member.

8. The records state staff acknowledged his concerns, reassured him he was safe, and would investigate the issues reported.
9. The Council said it investigated these reports and considered Mr Y’s own recording of the incident involving the staff member. I have seen a copy of the interview notes made after a meeting with Mr Y and the Homeless Lead Officer held in November. He had complained about report handling. The notes record Mr Y no longer felt at risk in the hostel.
10. The records show he made a further report of stalking the same month and did not feel safe. Staff explained it was shared accommodation with communal areas for all residents to use. Mr Y was upset and became abusive to staff and a resident.
11. Police arrived a few days later as Mr Y reported staff for an ongoing issue. An officer tried to contact him to arrange a meeting.
12. In December, the records show he became angry and abusive with staff about his rent statement.
13. The records provide some evidence staff tried to help Mr Y with queries about rent, benefits, and carried out welfare checks.
14. In response to his formal complaint, the Council said there was a review of all mandatory staff training for accommodation staff. All staff in the service would be asked to complete further training. This will be in customer care and managing difficult conversations. Managers would also visit the hostel regularly to meet and listen to residents views, concerns, and comments.
15. It also reviewed the temporary accommodation process for the receipt of mail and parcels to ensure this was consistent across all temporary accommodation. The Council took further action concerning a member of staff which I am unable to disclose. This was after it upheld his complaint about the member of staff’s behaviour.
16. In January 2026, the Council accepted it owed Mr Y the main housing duty.
17. The following month, the records show staff spoke to another resident whom Mr Y had accused of stealing his glasses. Mr Y became abusive to staff when leaving the office.
18. In March, staff wanted to arrange a meeting with Mr Y to discuss his report about too much detergent in the washing machine. There was evidence of staff taking steps to try and reduce the risk of him losing the accommodation. There was also evidence of staff helping Mr Y when an ambulance was needed. They showed some welfare checks were done.
19. The same month, he was evicted from the hostel because of rent arrears and his behaviour. He was aggressive towards staff and made negative comments at other residents. He was arrested for assaulting another resident and making a racist comment, although Mr Y said in his response that the police took no further action. Mr Y said he suffered a mental health crisis and took an overdose which was not helped by the lack of staff present at the hostel for a significant period, as well as staff bullying. The Council noted staff were present weekdays between 8am and 4pm.
20. The Council decided to end the main housing duty it owed him. Mr Y asked for a review of this decision. It decided not to provide him with accommodation pending the review.
21. The Council accepted:

• There were difficulties providing evidence of many aspects of this case. This is due to the nature of temporary accommodation and the fleeting support interactions with clients that can happen, as well as the nature of the interaction with Mr Y.
• Many of Mr Y’s reports were verbal. While acted on, these instances were often only recorded as brief care notes or verbally handed over to management.
• It had a case management system for case notes and client/support information. When reviewing a record, information is presented on the member of staff’s screen. If satisfied with action taken, no further recording action would be taken.
• It is limited to what it can provide in terms of further evidence that it carried out reviews, other than confirming it had been done.

My findings

22. I found fault on this complaint for the following reasons:
1. There was a lack of evidence about the Council investigating some of the reports Mr Y said he made.
2. The case records show some of his reports were actioned by staff, such as reports about his glasses, for example, and staff behaviour.
3. The Council accepted there were difficulties providing evidence in response to our enquiries. I acknowledge the pressures staff at the hostel are under. I accept interactions with residents, including Mr Y, could be brief with many of the reports being verbal. However, while I have no reason to doubt what the Council said about these issues, the absence of contemporaneous evidence raises concern. It is important the Council can show evidence of its decision making when considering issues of risk and safety, for example, as well as carrying out reviews. This is particularly important as many in temporary accommodation can be vulnerable.
4. The Council telling us what it has done is evidence but does not have the same weight as a contemporaneous record, for example.
5. I am satisfied these failures caused Mr Y some injustice. He has the uncertainty of not knowing whether all his reports were properly assessed and considered. He also has the uncertainty of not knowing whether reviews were properly done. This all contributed to his sense of discrimination.

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Action

23. I considered our guidance on remedies as well as the actions the Council said it has already taken. This included: a review of mandatory staff training identified for a staff member; a review of staff training records to ensure they were up to date; a review of temporary accommodation processes for the receipt of mail and parcels which identified it was consistent across all temporary accommodation services; managers regularly visiting the hostel.
24. The Council agreed to take the following action within four weeks of the final decision on this complaint:
1. Send Mr Y a written apology for failing to provide: further evidence of it investigating and taking action on some of his reports; contemporaneous evidence and evidence of its decision making.
2. Carry out a review to look at how it can implement improvements to the making of records about: i) risk and safety reports from residents by staff at temporary accommodation; ii) review decisions by managers.
25. The Council should provide us with evidence it complied with the above actions.

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Decision

26. I found fault on Mr Y’s complaint against the Council. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman