Case Ref: 24 012 786 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Other

• The Council has agreed to produce guidance for relevant staff on when and how to check a tenant’s social care and/or equipment needs when responding to repairs.

Case Ref: 24 012 587 Category: Other Categories Sub Category: Other

• The Council will give training or guidance to all staff across all departments on the Council’s duty to identify and engage with reasonable adjustment requests, how to identify when someone has an agreed reasonable adjustment, and how to meet this in every communication.

Case Ref: 24 011 977 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council agreed to review why the complainant was allowed to remain in accommodation it had already decided was unsuitable, with no additional help from the Council to find suitable accommodation, and take steps to ensure this cannot be repeated on other cases.
• The Council agreed to remind relevant officers of the need to inform tenants about unsuitability decisions at the time they are made.
• The Council agreed to ensure tenants who remain in their temporary accommodation understand the legal position of their accommodation after a decision to end the housing duty has been made

Case Ref: 24 011 190 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• • Provide guidance to staff to ensure:a) Correspondence with applicants is properly sent and recorded.b) Homelessness applications are dealt with in a timely manner.c) Enquiries regarding crime reference numbers are made to all relevant police forces.d) Full and proper consideration is given to each applicant in relation to their eligibility for interim accommodation.e) Complaint responses are sent within the relevant timescales, or interim responses are sent clearly explaining why it is not possible to reply fully in the proper timeframe.

Case Ref: 24 009 839 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: Other

• The Council has agreed to provide relevant business owners with clear, accurate and timely information about the six-month discretionary business rates relief deadline.

Case Ref: 24 009 793 Category: Education Sub Category: School admissions

• The Council has agreed to remind Panel members and staff who deal with deferred entry requests of the requirements set out in the Admissions Code and relevant guidance. It should also provide those staff with a copy of this decision statement.
• The Council will also take action to ensure decision letters include a meaningful analysis of why the Council has reached a decision about what is in the best interests of the specific child

Case Ref: 24 009 675 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• Provide a written briefing to officers in its homelessness team regarding the importance of retaining accurate records of the actions/decisions taken by the Council regarding homelessness applications.
• Remind officers of the Council’s duty to make inquiries into what, if any, duties it owes someone contacting the council who gives a reason to believe they may be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days.
• Remind staff of the Council’s duty to secure interim accommodation for an applicant whilst it carries out an assessment if there is reason to believe they may be eligible, homeless and in priority need.

Case Ref: 24 008 427 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• Review its processes to establish why Miss X was not provided with continuing interim accommodation up to 13 May, and provide an action plan identifying any necessary changes to ensure there is no repetition of these circumstances.
• Provide guidance to staff to ensure that homelessness applicants who the Council accepts a duty to provide interim accommodation for, are in receipt of a placement in such accommodation.
• Provide an action plan showing how all outstanding statutory reviews will be completed within maximum timescales.
• Provide guidance to staff to ensure that statutory reviews are completed within the maximum timescales.
• Provide guidance to staff to provide full and relevant complaint responses.

Case Ref: 24 006 914 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to share a copy of this decision with staff in homelessness, allocations, andtenancy management to identify the learning from this complaint.
• The Council has agreed to produce a protocol for joint working and information sharing among housing allocations, homelessness, and tenancy management, including what should happen when an existing tenant needs to leave their home or the borough. It will provide training to all relevant staff on the agreed procedures and include the protocol in any induction or training of new staff.
• The Council has agreed to review the factsheet previously produced for secure tenants who need to leavetheir homes due to risk of violence and update it as required. It will share this withstaff in homelessness, allocations, tenancy management and with any other relevantstakeholders, such as housing associations and tenancy managementorganisations. It will ensure the factsheet is accessible to the staff who need it andconsider publishing it on the Council’s website or otherwise publicising it totenants.

Case Ref: 24 003 551 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to:Identify the action it is going to take to ensure it communicates with people about the charges for their care;Introduce policies and procedures on charging legal costs and interest on unpaid care charges.