Ombudsman criticises Hammersmith & Fulham over homeless pregnant woman case

The London borough of Hammersmith & Fulham failed to deal properly with a homeless pregnant woman and was guilty of maladministration, the Local Government Ombudsman has ruled.

Tony Redmond said the woman concerned – Ms Kenza (not her real name) – had “suffered some injustice because she was not provided with the level of support and assistance she could reasonably expect as a person who was homeless and in priority need.” The council did not put her in temporary accommodation while the council investigated the circumstances that led to her homelessness.

However, Redmond rejected Ms Kenza’s claims of racial and sexual discrimination by council officers.

Ms Kenza, who was eight months’ pregnant at the time, complained that the council failed to give her adequate advice and assistance when she became homeless after she left her private rented accommodation following an incident of domestic violence.

Housing officers had suggested she find accommodation in the private sector through the Direct Lettings Scheme and failed to explain that she could make a homelessness application. Ms Kenza was not provided with emergency accommodation when she became homeless, although this was provided later by the council’s out-of-hours service. She said she spent four nights sleeping rough in the park as a result.

The Ombudsman said the standard of record-keeping by housing officers in the case “was so poor that it hindered the Ombudsman’s investigation of the complaint and fell so far below acceptable standards that it amounts to maladministration”.

He added: “It has not been possible to resolve some conflicts of evidence because of the absence of detailed contemporaneous notes recording housing officers’ contact with Ms Kenza, voluntary caseworkers and other professionals.”

Redmond said the council had applied too strict a test when deciding whether to provide Ms Kenza with temporary accommodation “by insisting she provide proof of homelessness first”. It also failed to follow its own procedures for referring victims of domestic violence to a specialist domestic violence housing advocate. Liaison between officers in different departments of the council was also labelled “ineffective”.

The LGO made a number of recommendations to the council including that it should apologise to Ms Kenza and pay her compensation of £750. It also called for Hammersmith & Fulham to:

• Remind all housing officers of the need to maintain accurate and detailed records of their contacts with services users, their advisers and advocates
• Review its systems for sharing information between children’s services and housing services in relation to vulnerable users
• Ensure that the established procedure for referring service users to the domestic violence housing advocate are followed
• Ensure that all forms used by the housing service are dated and ensure that records of service users placed in emergency accommodation by the out-of-hours service are copied to the housing officer responsible for the case.