Agenda item

The Director of Housing will provide a verbal update on Mr X. 

The Head of Housing provided a verbal update on Ombudsman case relating to Mr X & Ms X:

·       It was highlighted that Mr X had complained to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). He argued that the Council had failed to provide sufficient support with his homelessness, his housing application and that it had also failed to provide suitable accommodation for him and his family. 

·       The Ombudsman report was formally published on 6th November 2025 and outlined a list of recommendations. Those recommendations were that the report be considered at the appropriately delegated committee of elected members, the Council apologised to Mr X for the faults identified and that two symbolic payments were made. One of £500 to Mr X for the distress and uncertainty caused and another of £3,525 for the distress caused to Mr X and his family by living in unsuitable B&B accommodation for longer than they should have done. 

·       It was noted that the Council had implemented all agreed remedies, including the combined payments of £4,025 which had been paid to the family via bank transfer.

·       A separate case involving Ms X was also highlighted. It was detailed that Ms X complained to the Ombudsman that the Council had failed to provide sufficient support with her homelessness and failed to provide suitable accommodation for her and her children.

·       The Ombudsman report was formally published on 14th November 2024 and outlined a list of recommendations. Those recommendations were that the Council was to send a written apology to Ms X, make a symbolic payment of £500 to acknowledge the distress and a further symbolic payment of £1,300 for the distress caused to the family for staying in B&B accommodation. In addition, a further £150 per month was to be paid to Ms X for every month her and her family remained in unsuitable accommodation. Finally, the Council was to review template letters used by the operational services and deliver training to front line Homelessness Officers. It was confirmed that all recommendation had been complied with and a total payment of £2,250 was paid to Ms X via bank transfer.

·       It was explained that there were no outstanding recommendations or remedial actions remaining, and the cases were therefore regarded as closed from an operational and the Ombudsman's perspective.

·       The Executive Member for Housing, Economy and Neighbourhoods reiterated the position made by a statement at full council. The ombudsman had made it clear that this was not setting a precedent for other cases.  

·       The Director of Housing explained that as result of the ombudsman’s verdict, he had requested a meeting with the ombudsman regarding the present situation of housing in the city. During the meeting the director detailed the homelessness situation and housing crisis which the ombudsman was not fully aware of. Following the meeting, the ombudsman understood the position of the Council and acknowledged the work done by the Council. The ombudsman accepted that the Council had done everything possible. 

In response to questions and comments, the following points were made: 

• Members asked for further clarity on the causes of the cases of Mr X and Mrs X. The Director of Housing explained that the issues went back to the pandemic, when the Council opted to house Leicester’s homeless and the Council’s commitment following the end of lockdown to keep them housed. This combined with increased Section 21 notices following the end of the pandemic lead to a sudden surge of homelessness cases for families. The Director highlighted that the Homelessness team had seen an increase of 200% in homelessness cases in the 10 years since 2023, many of these cases were families. The total lack of affordable housing in city was detailed, 50,000 of the rental accommodation within the city was private rented and only 3% of that was affordable for people on benefits or low wages. It was noted that this contributed to the council declaring a housing crisis in 2022. The Council had on many occasions a duty to house these people, but the Council’s existing stock of temporary accommodation did not have the capacity, so many were put into B&B’s. This situation led to many cases of the 6-week deadline being breached. In 2025, Full Council approved £45 million which was spent on 225 units and renting 125 more and again in 2026, a further £50 million was authorised to purchase more accommodation. As a result of these actions, a large number of people were moved out of B&B and in to self contained temporary accommodation and currently there were no breaches of the 6-week rule. However, there were still 700 families living in temporary accommodation and within those families, 1000 children. The Council had also launched the private renters sector strategy, worked with licensing to improve private accommodation and lobbied the government to increase the housing benefit level for private renting which they have done. The director stated that despite the hard work of the Housing Department, there was still a housing crisis and that it was a self-perpetuating issue which required constant attention.
• Members raised questions about the current situation of the Housing department and how the 6-month rule was currently being monitored. It was detailed that the Housing department had the Temporary Accommodation Team who handled the entire process and a Team Leader who monitored B&B cases daily and attempted to move them on as quickly as possible.

AGREED:  

1.    The verbal update was noted.