London council wrongly refused pregnant woman help with housing due to outdated definition of domestic abuse

This decision was unsuccessfully appealed before a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) investigation found the council used an outdated, narrow definition of domestic abuse, limiting it to physical attacks.

This is contrary to the legal definition that includes non-physical abuse, including psychological abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour, which came into force in 2021.

The LGSCO also found the council disregarded information that the ex-partner had kicked the woman’s door in, because the police took no further action to prosecute the partner.

Instead of relying on the lower ‘balance of probabilities’ standard of proof as it should do when making decisions, Ealing instead applied the incorrect, higher, ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ standard of proof used in a legal criminal case.

The council has since apologised and compensated the woman. An Ealing Council spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the procedural errors we made in this case around the statutory rules on domestic abuse, and for the impact the errors have had on this person.

“Domestic abuse ruins lives, and we should have done better in this case. We accept the ombudsman’s finding that we should have been more proactive with supporting her to apply for our housing register.”

The LGSCO believes this case case demonstrated a clear lack of understanding within the council’s housing department of what constitutes domestic abuse, as defined by law.

Amerdeep Somal, the local government and social care ombudsman, said: “The idea that domestic abuse is limited to physical violence is outdated.

“This lack of knowledge could potentially have affected other vulnerable people in the council’s area. It failed to even investigate whether it owed her a duty to house her, or to offer her interim accommodation. Instead, it left a pregnant woman to sofa-surf with family.

“This woman had the additional distress and indignity of giving birth not knowing where she and her baby would live. I hope the measures the council has agreed to put in place will ensure other vulnerable people who have suffered domestic abuse do not have their experiences discounted in future.”

The council will also review the woman’s homelessness status, and her application to its housing register. It will also pay her £1,000 to recognise the significant distress she endured.

In addition, training and guidance will be provided on domestic abuse to those staff involved in the homelessness and housing process.

An Ealing Council spokesperson added: “This case was also affected by the fact that we implemented a new allocations policy midway through our handling of her initial enquiry and incorrectly applied the outdated version. We are urgently reviewing the person’s application to join our housing register using our new allocations policy.

“It is categorically not true that we did not investigate whether we owed the person a housing duty or offer her interim accommodation. We assessed and reviewed her case and repeatedly offered her emergency housing, which she refused. We are approaching the ombudsman to raise questions about this serious misunderstanding of the facts of this case.

“We have made some internal changes as a result of the ombudsman’s recommendations. We have amended our internal procedures to be more proactive and are providing additional guidance to our officers on the statutory rules on domestic abuse.”