Case Ref: 23 018 625 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will issue a reminder to all relevant staff about the timescales to respond to section 202 review requests

Case Ref: 23 018 548 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• Establish a standardised policy between it, and all managing agents responsible for resolving disrepair. The policy should set out clear service level agreements for work to be completed and give the Council oversight over the presence of reported disrepair, and the completion of works. It is expected that such a policy would prevent similar occurrences where the Council has a lack of oversight over reported disrepair and can proactively take action to resolve any delay.

Case Ref: 23 017 860 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will provide an update to the Ombudsman on its progress against the Housing NeedsService Improvement Plan.

Case Ref: 23 017 447 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council will provide us with an explanation about how it will ensure that open cases will be reallocated and progressed following the departure of Environmental Health Officers.

Case Ref: 23 017 206 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will send a reminder to officers dealing with repair issues in interim and temporary accommodation about the need to promptly investigate any concerns about repair issues in the property and consider whether emergency rehousing is necessary.

Case Ref: 23 016 266 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will remind relevant officers and managers of its homelessness duties under the Housing Act 1996. This will help to ensure the Council provides temporary homeless accommodation which is free of disrepair and of the need to deal with any reported issues quickly and decisively in temporary accommodation the Council has organised under its duties.
• The Council will consider reviewing how it can improve its general oversight of the condition of temporary homeless accommodation it has organised under its homelessness duties in line with the Housing Act 1996. It will also remind relevant officers and managers of the need for the Council to inspect accommodation itself if there are persistent reports of disrepair issues. This will help to ensure the Council itself has a clear picture of accommodation it is placing homeless applicants into, rather than relying on information from third parties.
• The Council will remind relevant officers and managers of the need to complete non-statutory suitability reviews of its temporary homeless accommodation in no more than eight weeks (to mirror the timescale for statutory reviews under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996). This will help to ensure those living in temporary homeless accommodation are not left waiting for the Council to decide whether it views the accommodation as suitable or not.
• The Council will review the wording on its informal suitability reviews of temporary homeless accommodation it has organised. It will review this to make it clearer about the next available steps to the applicant when it has completed its initial informal review. This will help to ensure those in temporary accommodation have a clear understanding that there is the option of a formal suitability review under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996, after the Council’s initial informal review has taken place.
• The Council will share the Ombudsman’s focus report - unsuitable temporary accommodation: guide for practitioners (issued May 2023) with relevant staff, managers and directors. This will help to ensure relevant staff have a clear understanding of their duties to those applicants in line with the Housing Act 1996.

Case Ref: 23 015 831 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• Look at what went wrong in this case and why there were significant delays in processing the housing application and medical assessment form. The Council should consider what changes it can make to ensure it processes housing applications and medical assessments quicker.

Case Ref: 23 015 110 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to review how its housing officers - in particular in its temporary accommodation team - respond to and record on applicants' case files, any urgent contact from applicants, including notices to quit and eviction warrants.
• The Council has agreed to remind all housing officers - with particular focus on its temporary accommodation team - of sections 6.37 and 6.38 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance - which says it is not reasonable for applicants to occupy properties until an eviction warrant is issued and they should not be evicted by bailiffs because of councils’ failure to provide accommodation.
• The Council has agreed to carry out training with its temporary accommodation team on the dangers domestic abuse victims face in the period when they first seek to flee abuse. This training should set out the increased risks during this time - if not provided with appropriate housing support - of victims returning to or remaining with their abuser. This case should be used – with all key individuals anonymised - to demonstrate how the temporary accommodation team avoidably missed opportunities to move a victim to safety sooner and to consider how to prevent these mistakes happening in future.
• The Council has agreed to demonstrate how - several months after the Council carried out its procedural review in early 2024 - officers are now carrying out suitability assessments with households before making offers of temporary and permanent accommodation, preventing the need for so many applicants to have to challenge unsuitable offers through the review process instead.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff – using this case as an example but anonymising key individuals - that applicants need reasonable notice and opportunity to view a property before deciding whether to accept it as temporary or permanent accommodation. It is fault for the Council to withdraw its housing duty from applicants who have not had this opportunity.

Case Ref: 23 014 553 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• the Council has agreed to consider and devise an action plan, including a target date, to implement a change to its procedure, to ensure it informs applicants on the housing register of a right to request a review if their bedroom entitlement changes.

Case Ref: 23 011 925 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Noise

• By training or other means remind staff of the importance of responding to residents’ correspondence in a timely manner. This is to ensure noise nuisance issues are dealt with effectively to prevent complaint escalation.
• Review the Council’s communication strategy and processes between the teams dealing with noise nuisance complaints and licencing matters. This is to ensure the Council provides residents with seamless and efficient service.
• As stated in its responses to Mr X's complaint, provide the Ombudsman with evidence to show the Council: has reminded staff of the need to manage residents’ expectations about how it informs them of its site visits' outcomes/assessments has revisited the hall premises to re-set the sound limiter and the Council said it would contact Mr X to further discuss the disturbance issues has arranged a visit to better assess any live activities held at the hall premises licensing team would provide Mr X with a prompt response about any alleged contravention of the hall premises licence.