Decision details

The Cabinet Member authorised the payment of the recommended settlement amount.

Client A approached the council as homeless as they were unable to continue to reside at their property as they were the victim of harassment. An application was accepted and a full housing duty was accepted. In October 2017 client A was offered what the council considered to be suitable accommodation in discharge of its homelessness duties. Client A refused the offer of accommodation and our duty to secure permanent accommodation was brought to an end.

In January 2019 the Council received representations from client A’s solicitor requesting the Council consider undertaking an out of time review of their case as they believed that the Council had erred in law in making its decision to discharge it homelessness duty.

The Council agreed to undertake the review and on receipt of supporting evidence from the clients decided to overturn the decision that was made in October 2017 and to reinstate the full housing duty.

Following notification of our decision to overturn the decision, client A complained to the Council that following our discharge of duty they had to place their belongings into storage and they experienced financial hardship as a result. The Council decided that as they had agreed that the original decision to discharge their homelessness decision was incorrect it was unreasonable for client A to foot the bill for these costs and agreed to reimburse.

The costs were £144 per month for 15 months for the period November 2017 to February 2019 inclusive. £144 x 15 = £2160.00  

This is a final payment to resolve a complaint made against the Council. If not made the complainant could escalate their complaint to The Local Government Ombudsman who would investigate the complaint and would publish a report into their findings.

The likely outcome of their report would be that the Council should reimburse the client for costs accrued during the period that the homelessness duty was discharged.

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