The Council will remind relevant officers of the importance of making proper enquiries before reaching a decision on whether an applicant is in priority need of housing.The Council will review its processes to ensure it provides appropriate support to homeless applicants and those applying to its housing register, who do not speak or read and write in English, to complete forms and otherwise access those services. This should include providing interpretation services where appropriate.

The Council should send written reminders to relevant housing staff that responsibility lies with the Council to make decisions on whether to award priority for applications, not medical advisors. It should also remind them to ensure decision letters clearly explain how the Council has reached its decision and what account it has taken of evidence provided, as well as the views of its medical advisors.

The Council has agreed to review its medical assessment procedure to identify where improvements could be made to speed up the processing of applications.

The Council has agreed to amend all templates for reviewable homelessness decision letters to include details of the email address to which applicants can send review requests.The Council has agreed, when acknowledging a review request, whether by automated email reply or otherwise, to include information about the review process and timescales, including the applicant’s right to go to court if the Council fails to meet the statutory deadline.The Council has agreed to identify and implement a process to enable the Council to pick up and deal with time-sensitive contacts when an officer is off sick or on leave.The Council has agreed to provide training or guidance to all front-line staff to ensure contacts which express dissatisfaction are directed through the correct process, whether this be the Council’s complaint policy or the relevant statutory process.

The Council has agreed to provide training / reminders to relevant staff of the need to to keep the suitability of accommodation under review and to respond to relevant changes in circumstances which may affect the suitability. Staff should be reminded of the need to document reviews and record decisions.

The Council has agreed to remind its officers of the timescales set out in the Homelessness Code of Guidance for making homelessness enquiries and ending the relief housing duty.The Council will remind officers it has an onging duty to consider whether temporary accommodation provided to homeless individuals remains suitable for their needs, accounting for any changes in the person's circumstances.The Council will remind officers that offers of temporary accommodation, made under the main housing duty, are decisions that should be made in writing. It will also remind officers these decision letters should clearly set out the applicant's right to appeal.

The Council will remind relevant staff of the need to keep a proper record of how they consider whether an applicant is in priority need, including whether they are vulnerable.The Council will remind relevant staff of the need to make appropriate enquiries with children's social care where an applicant is seeking to add a child to their housing application so it can consider whether to make an exception to its usual position that it will not do so unless the parent is the child's primary carer. If it declines to make an exception it should set out its reasons in writing.The Council will remind relevant staff of the need to issue formal decision letters with appropriate information about rights of review and appeal, in line with relevant law and guidance.