Case No. EWHC-185-(Admin)

16.From the Ombudsman's draft decision dated 10th May 2021 it appears that the Claimant made a complaint about the Defendants to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman set out the chronology of facts in the document. 17.In July 2016 the Claimant’s family including his father, mother and 3 siblings made a homelessness application to the Defendants. The Defendants offered them interim temporary accommodation which they accepted whilst the Defendants considered the more permanent accommodation application. In October 2016 the Defendants decided the family did not have a local connection to Westminster and refused the application. The family sought a review and this was rejected in February 2017. The family appealed to the County Court and in July 2017 the Defendants accepted a full housing duty and entered the family onto their housing register and reinstated the interim temporary accommodation arrangements. The Defendants sent letters to confirm this settlement to the old interim accommodation address. This address subsequently turned out to be the wrong address for the Claimant’s family, who had departed, so they did not receive the letters. The Claimant’s family asserted that they had visited the Defendants’ offices soon thereafter but were told that their application had been rejected (see paragraph 34 of the Ombudsman's chronology). The Defendants had no further notes or records relating to contact with the family or the family’s housing application for 1 year and 10 months. The Claimant asserted to the Ombudsman that he and his family became homeless for 8 to 10 weeks. They then found a room for 6 to 8 weeks. The family then secured private rental accommodation however due to the Claimant’s disabilities that private rental accommodation was not suitable for him so he lived with a friend for 11 or more months and then found his own private rental flat at Park West. The Claimant’s evidence to the Ombudsman was that he found the 7th floor flat at Park West in August 2018 and moved in despite being a wheelchair user at that time.18.In October 2019 the Claimant contacted the Defendants and explained that he no longer lived with the rest of his family and inquired about splitting the permanent rehousing application so that the family’s application would be separate from his. Further phone calls took place thereafter. On the 8th of November 2019 the family submitted a stage one complaint asserting that they had heard nothing from the Defendants after July 2017 and had only found out on the 7th of November 2019 that the family were on the housing register and able to bid for properties. They also complained that their priority on the register was inadequate because the Defendants had not properly considered the disabilities of various family members. On the 21st of November 2019 the Claimant spoke to the Defendants on the telephone and explained his family’s private rental accommodation was not suitable for them because of his mother's health. 19.On the 22nd of November 2019 the Defendants asked the Claimant to fill in a medical assessment form for himself, his father and his mother but the Claimant asserted he was unable to read or write English. That assertion does not appear to have been truthful. The Defendants therefore considered what (interpreter) support they could offer to him.20.The Defendants completed their housing needs assessment in December 2019 and placed the family in category 1, making them a priority for interim accommodation. On the 10th of December 2019 the Defendants visited the family and the Claimant to complete medical assessment forms and the Claimant interpreted the conversation for the family into English. The Defendants noted that at this time the Claimant was living separately from the family. 21.On the 30th of December 2019 the Defendants referred the Claimant and his mother to their medical assessor for medical assessment. The Defendants also contacted the Claimant’s carer to seek further information about his needs. In January 2020 the Defendants contacted the local authority where the family lived to seek further information about the Claimant’s mother’s needs.22.On the 8th of January 2020 the Defendants’ adult social care department confirmed they had made a referral to wheelchair services for the Claimant and had installed some equipment in his flat at Park West but they did not provide a care package for him.23.Through February and March 2020 the Defendants gathered information about the Claimant’s needs including requesting information from his GP. However the GP informed the Defendants that the GP had received an e-mail in January cancelling the request for medical information and the GP refused to inform the Defendants who had sent the cancelling e-mail. At about this time the Defendants’ notes indicated that the Claimant had declined to answer information about his mother’s landlord. This refusal to permit access to the Claimant’s GP was to be repeated later as I shall set out below (I infer that the Claimant effected the refusal).24.On the 5th of March 2020 the Defendants referred the Claimant to their occupational health service.25.In March 2020 the Defendants responded to the complaint accepting that they had failed to inform the family and the Claimant after the July 2017 settlement that they accepted a duty to rehouse and apologised for that error. The Defendants also accepted the Claimant’s request to be rehoused separately from the rest of his family. The Defendants offered the family compensation. The Defendants noted the family was housed in another borough, in a four bedroom house. The Defendants asserted that despite their error even if they had kept the family on the relevant register the family would not have been rehoused in a four bedroom property in the intervening 2 years.26.The Claimant submitted a stage two complaint on the 13th of March 2020 seeking housing for himself and his family separately and more substantial compensation. 27.On the 8th of June 2020 the Defendants received their own assessment of the Claimant’s medical state from their medical officer which confirmed he was a wheelchair user. I have not been provided with a copy of that important document in the hearing bundle.28.On the 19th of June 2020 the Defendants acknowledged the Claimant’s request for permanent housing but maintained their position that their previous error had not delayed the rehousing of the Claimant’s family. The Defendants increased their offer of compensation to £3,100 pounds. The Defendants acknowledged the Claimant’s request for separate rehousing and accepted it. The Defendants were still in the process of assessing the Claimant’s need for a live in carer but this had been delayed by COVID. On 25th June 2020 the Defendants telephoned the Claimant to explain that social services needed to assess his needs before they could decide whether he needed an extra bedroom for a carer (presumably the issue was his overnight care need).29.The family referred their complaint to the Ombudsman on the 7th of July. On the 29th of September 2020 the Defendants wrote to the Claimant’s father explaining that the original application was made for a five bedroom property as a single household including the Claimant, but because the Claimant was now separately accommodated the accommodation needs of the family were reduced. The Defendants agreed to rehouse the Claimant separately. The Defendants accepted the family needed wheelchair accessible accommodation but not wheelchair adapted accommodation. Such properties were rare.