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London council pays out nearly £12,000 after failing vulnerable resident
A London council has been forced to apologise and pay nearly £12,000 in compensation as it left a man with complex needs unsupported after he was made homeless.
Tower Hamlets Council paid a combined £11,728 to the man after failures were identified following an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).
It is the second case this month involving the local authority to be highlighted by the agency.
A report into the latest incident said that a lack of joined-up support, significant gaps in the man’s care package and “unsuitable interim and temporary accommodation” meant he spent several weeks sleeping in his car and eventually ended up in hospital.
The man, identified as Mr X, has disabilities and complex physical and mental health needs.
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The report said the council’s housing team delayed helping the man when he was being evicted from private rented accommodation.
It then provided him with “unsuitable interim accommodation” and at times left him with none at all.
The report’s summary added: “The council’s adult social care team failed to ensure his care needs were fully recorded and did not work proactively with its housing team to ensure any housing provided would meet his assessed care needs.
“He did not receive any support for his care needs after the morning call on the day he was evicted and on another weekend when he had no accommodation.
“As a result of council failings, Mr X was caused considerable stress and worry over many months before being evicted, had to sleep in his car for a weekend when the council failed to provide housing, slept in his car for several weeks when it provided unsuitable accommodation and did not always receive his care package.”
The man also said the lack of support with housing and his care needs adversely affected his mental and physical health, which meant he spent several weeks in hospital.
Amerdeep Somal, the local government and social care ombudsman, said: “This case is an awful example of the dire consequences of council departments not working together properly to support the most vulnerable members of their communities.
“It should have been quite apparent that this would not be a simple case, and the council needed to take action when the man first approached it for help and should have planned ahead for when he had to leave his permanent accommodation.”
She added: “When dealing with complex cases like this, councils need to have the channels in place to assure themselves they are meeting their duties to both house and care for disabled people who call on them for assistance.”
In an emailed statement, a Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: “We fully accept the report and its findings, and we apologise to Mr X for the stress and worry we caused him.
“These findings came at a time when we were facing unprecedented demand for housing and homelessness services. This is not an excuse, we can and will do better to provide services to people who are homeless with complex care needs.
“Our team is working hard to improve and already acting on the report’s recommendations.”
In a separate case, published last week, the LGSCO found that Tower Hamlets Council placed a vulnerable family fleeing domestic abuse in “degrading and appalling” mixed-sex accommodation.
The council was also in the spotlight last month after it backtracked on a decision that would have allowed it to place homeless families in temporary accommodation more than 90 minutes away from the borough.
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