Council houses perpetrator's relative in same street as abuse victim

Bristol City Council admitted its response to the complaint was confusing and said it had reviewed its procedures since 2021

A domestic abuse victim and her children were "forced to flee" their new home when the council moved the perpetrator's relative into their road.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said it was an unforeseeable and "unfortunate coincidence".

However, it upheld a complaint against Bristol City Council for failing "to follow its complaints policy" and for causing confusion for the victim.

The council apologised and said it had reviewed its procedures since 2021.

The victim was referred to as Miss B in the report, her mother as Ms C, and the perpetrator's family member as Ms D.

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The ombudsman's report said Miss B complained the council did not prevent Ms D moving into her road and did not support her to leave the property, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Miss B said that this caused her and her family "considerable distress".

The ombudsman said it found "fault" - which means maladministration or service failure - with the council's complaint response.

But added: "There was no information on Miss B or Ms D's housing applications to indicate they knew each other, or that Ms D knew Miss B's perpetrator."

When Bristol City Council was made aware of the problem in July 2021, Miss B's case was considered urgent and she and her children were rehoused within six weeks.

Four month delay

The report also found the council's response to Miss D's complaint to be "uncoordinated" and had "caused confusion and injustice".

"Two separate teams responded and suggested Miss B's mother would get another response from a third," the report stated.

The ombudsman said when Ms C escalated her complaint "the council should have responded in 20 working days, but it took over four months".

Bristol City Council has accepted it made errors in its complaint handling, namely it should have sent one response to the complaint, not three.

It accepted that it failed to tell Miss B how to escalate her complaint, and it should have escalated the case to a senior member of the customer relations team sooner.

The authority said since the case was brought to light it had reviewed its complaints procedures to ensure better handling in future.