Case Ref: 24 006 548 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will review its main housing duty decision letters to ensure they give clear information about a person's right to ask for a statutory review of the suitability of their temporary accommodation.

Case Ref: 24 006 071 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• Remind staff of the Council’s duty to people living in unsuitable accommodation.
• Provide guidance to all relevant staff on the actions the Council should take to source alternative accommodation. This guidance should include recording the actions the Council takes.

Case Ref: 24 004 791 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council agreed to ensure it considers the suitability of temporary accommodation in response to complaints of disrepair, including damp and mould, and issues a written decision setting out the applicant's right to ask for a suitability review. It will provide training or guidance as needed.
• The Council agreed to arrange a meeting between a senior Council manager responsible for procurement and management of temporary accommodation and a senior representative from the managing agent to discuss our findings. They should identify ways to improve liaison, information-sharing and performance monitoring to ensure the agent meets the timescales and service standards in the agreement.
• The Council agreed to monitor the managing agent’s performance against the service level agreement for three months from the date of our final decision. It is up to the Council how it chooses to conduct this monitoring. If the Council decides not to physically inspect all properties, it should consider identifying and inspecting properties with repeated reports of disrepair from occupants.

Case Ref: 24 001 840 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• In writing, remind officers to keep accurate records of how decisions were reached.
• In writing, remind officers to issue complaint responses which deal with the issues raised by complainants.

Case Ref: 24 000 401 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Antisocial behaviour

• Remind relevant staff of the importance of keeping accurate records of meetings and decision making.
• Provide guidance to relevant staff on the Council's responsibilities when completing Anti-Social Behaviour case reviews.

Case Ref: 23 021 187 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will review any similar cases where residents in this building (living in temporary accommodation provided by the Council) have reported problems with the building and consider whether it is appropriate to move them into suitable accommodation.

Case Ref: 23 020 068 Category: Housing Sub Category: Private housing

• Review its procedures and timeframes for inspecting/responding to reports of disrepair in privately rented properties.
• Provide training/reminders to relevant staff of: a)the need to properly record their consideration of homelessness applications and to write to applicants to confirm what housing duty the Council decides it owes them, and to explain the applicant's rights of review; andb)the importance of properly considering whether it is reasonable for a homeless applicant to continue residing at a property which is in disrepair and affecting their health.

Case Ref: 23 020 047 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• Demonstrate how it will ensure that officers always carry out a suitability assessment to identify the household’s needs before making a placement in interim or temporary accommodation.
• fShow how it will monitor homelessness applications and set reminders of statutory deadlines e.g. 56 days, 8 weeks.

Case Ref: 23 019 748 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• Remind staff to ensure they carry out a suitability review of a person’s temporary accommodation when applicants or persons on their behalf raise concerns about the suitability of such accommodation.

Case Ref: 23 019 381 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to reviews its adult social care complaints procedure and take steps to ensure complaint responses are sent within the Council’s timescales. The Council should also ensure it has system in place to monitor complaints to identify if delays are likely to occur, to enable it to take action to minimise the delays and provide regular and meaningful updates to the complainant.