Council refuses payout to homeless B&B family

Leicester City Council said making all of the recommended payments would set an expensive precedent

Leicester City Council has refused to make a payout to a homeless family which it placed in "unsuitable" bed and breakfast accommodation for nearly 10 months.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said a man, referred to as Mr X, complained after council officers split up his children to house them when they were evicted from their private rented home in August 2023.

In a report published on Thursday, the ombudsman recommended the council should pay the family £3,525 because it did not find them a suitable permanent property until July 2024.

The council said it would apologise and pay Mr X a symbolic £500, as also suggested by the watchdog, but would not offer the larger sum.

It is the second time this year the authority has rejected an ombudsman's recommendation over payments to homeless families.

The council previously refused to make a £1,700 payout to a mother it was ruled to have failed when she sought help while fleeing domestic abuse.

According to UK law, families should only be put in B&B accommodation as a last resort for no longer than six weeks.

However, the city council said it was not responsible for the lack of suitable temporary accommodation, citing "national and international" factors.

The authority also argued to make the payouts would set a precedent that could cost it hundreds of thousands of pounds in similar cases.

Ombudsman Amerdeep Clarke said the council should "put things right" for the family

Amerdeep Clarke, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: "By refusing to acknowledge and remedy the injustice caused to the family – including splitting them up across separate rooms – for nearly 10 months, I am concerned Leicester City Council has yet again not fully accepted the personal impact of what has gone wrong.

"The council is not alone in experiencing increasing pressure and demands on its homelessness services.

"However, it is unique in repeatedly declining to agree to our recommendations to remedy the injustice caused to families impacted by its failings.

"We cannot become apathetic to failings simply because we see these repeated across different parts of the country and we will continue to hold councils to their legal obligations.

"We hear the council's concerns about wider impacts of paying a financial remedy to the family.

"Our report recognises the service improvements the council has made to address the use of B&B accommodation for homeless families.

"However, we have been clear that we have only recommended financial remedies for the two complaints brought to us and that these are based on the individual circumstances of each complaint.

"This is clearly reflected in the different remedies we have made in this and the previous case.

"I urge Leicester City to reflect on this case, and its responses to my office, and to put things right for this family."

Increased temporary housing

A council spokesperson said: "We have agreed to all of the recommendations made in the ombudsman's report in relation to delays and areas where the service had been found wanting.

"We are reviewing the circumstances around these delays to ensure they aren't repeated, and an apology will be given to Mr X, as well as a symbolic payment of £500, as recommended.

"The ombudsman does point out in the report that Mr X was offered suitable accommodation by the council during his time in the B&B accommodation, which he declined, and has reduced the recommended payment accordingly.

"We have not agreed to make the payment recommended due to Mr X being in B&B accommodation for longer than six weeks, for the reasons previously stated.

"We are currently reviewing the public interest report and will be notifying the ombudsman's office of the actions we intend to take in due course.

"In the past year we have significantly increased temporary housing available to us to such an extent that only a handful of families are now in B&B accommodation for more than six weeks, compared to hundreds last year."

It said it had invested more than £400m in permanent affordable housing since 2019.