The Council has agreed to ensure all letters accepting the main housing duty inform the applicant of their statutory right to review the suitability of the accommodation offered to meet that duty.The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the ongoing duty to keep the suitability of temporary accommodation under review, especially when there are reports of disrepair or other changes of circumstances which may affect suitability.The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that any decision that despite disrepair or another change in circumstances, temporary accommodation remains suitable should be communicated in writing and set out the applicant’s statutory right to ask for a review of the decision under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996. It will create or amend any template letters as necessary.The Council has agreed to remind staff with responsibility for responding to complaints that when upholding a complaint, the response should set out what action the Council will take to remedy any injustice caused.

The Council has agreed to review its procedures for sharing information between all housing departments, such as the registration team, the temporary accommodation team and the homelessness team. When information is provided to one team, such as evidence to show that the applicant needs to add a child to their application, the evidence will be shared with other relevant teams to action accordingly.The Council has agreed to remind officers that they should record all decisions and respond to all correspondence.The Council has agreed to introduce a system to enable the Council to regularly check whether any reviews have not been completed, and that decision letters have been issued. This is to ensure reviews and decision letters are issued within the timescales set out in legislation.The Council has agreed to review the way it records the status of housing and homelessness applications, so that officers can easily see the status of an application, the date of any review requests and any review decisions.

The Council will use this complaint as a case study in a written briefing to officers to remind them:a) to complete a suitability assessment for every applicant before they make an offer of accommodation;b)to check which housing duty is owed before making an offer of accommodation to ensure applicants receive the correct letter and are informed of their right to request a review of the suitability of the accommodation where appropriate;c)to communicate clearly and keep applicants informed if there are any unforeseen delays in arranging a planned move to alternative temporary accommodation.

The Council has agreed to provide guidance to its officers about the minimum floor area of a bedroom, to ensure rooms under this size are disregarded when calculating overcrowding.

The Council has agreed to review the way it records information to ensure it is clear to officers assessing housing applications whether the applicant is owed a duty under part 7 of the Housing Act.

The Council has agreed to investigate the reasons for its delay in carrying out a mobility assessment and take action to prevent such delays in future.The Council has previously provided action plans to show the action it is taking to reduce delays in processing housing applications and review requests. The Council has agreed to provide an updated action plan, state how long it is currently taking to process housing applications and reviews and provide a report to show how the time it is taking has changed over the last year. If delays have not significantly reduced, it will explain the reason for this.

The Council has agreed to investigate why the Council’s records show that officers believed a ‘not homeless decision’ had been made, but a decision letter was not sent to the complainant. It will then take action to ensure this does not happen again.The Council has agreed to discuss this case with the officers involved to ensure they are aware of the failings identified and to prevent similar failings in future.The Council has agreed to remind officers dealing with approaches from people requiring housing assistance that they must consider whether there is reason to believe they may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, and where there is, they must make enquiries to see whether they owe them any duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act.The Council has agreed to remind officers dealing with approaches from people requiring housing assistance that they must consider whether there is reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need, and where there is, they must secure interim accommodation.

The Council has agreed to remind housing officers to carry out affordability assessments before placin people in temporary accommodation. The Council's letter offering should set out its reasons for considering the accommodation is suitable, including its reasons for deciding it is affordable. It should remind housing officers this is the Council’s responsibility and not the responsibility of housing providers.

The Council has agreed to remind staff of the importance of considering risk alert information to allow reasonable adjustments to be made.The Council has agreed to arrange training for the housing team on the Equality Act and the public sector equality duty, in order to further consolidate staff learning on equality considerations.The Council has agreed to investigate why a mobility report was not added to the housing record promptly and to take action to ensure reports are always added promptly in future.

The Council will review its latest housing allocations policy and any relevant guidance to staff to make sure the process and evidence requirements for assessing banding based on the need to move due to the threat of violence or harassment are clear. This should include clear directions on when and what information should be confirmed with the Police about the potential threat and, if relevant, the circumstances when a risk assessment by the referral agency should be carried out. The Council has agreed to include information on the Home-Choice website to advise applicants that the housing assessment for exceptional need is informed by a risk assessment that is completed by the Police. The Council will circulate any updates made following the review of its Policy to relevant members of staff.The Council will circulate a reminder to relevant members of staff that all valid review requests, including those made by Council Officers by completing an exceptional need form, should be treated as such and progressed in line with its Housing Allocations Policy.