By Chris Williamson-
Newham Council has agreed have been ordered to pay compensation to a mother following a series of incompetent operations that left her family living in a B&B for almost two years instead of six weeks.
The mother, who has insisted on anonymity, was pregnant at the time she was accommodation with her partner in August 2015, whilst the council assessed whether they had a legal duty to house them.
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Astonishingly, the woman remained at the bed and breakfast for 23 months, despite a stipulated rule that residents are moved out of B&B after six weeks. She gave birth to her son four months after moving in.
The family was compelled to share cooking facilities with other six other families but they had their own toilet and bathroom. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman heard it took six months for the council to accept they had a duty to find her family a home but a series of delays meant she was not housed until July 2017.
During this time the mother had made a number of inquiries to establish why she was not being rehoused even after the council where aware she had given birth in December 2015. Adding to her woes was the failure of her son to be added to her housing application until March 2017. The council eventually sped up her request for a new home once her son’s name was added to her application, but the council failed to explain why it took almost year to do so.
Following the mother’s complaint being upheld by the ombudsman, the council has apologized to her and agreed to pay her £5,750 and ensure staff adheres to the rules that state families should not be housed in B&Bs for longer than six weeks.
The council has also been instructed to identify any other families who have been living in B&Bs for more than six weeks and rehouse them. The failure of Newham Council to address this problem sooner is poor and disgraceful, they should never have taken this long. The Eye Of Media.Com has put in a Freedom of Information Request to find out precisely how many families have been left in B&B longer than six weeks. Left to their own devices, they would probably keep their findings quiet, but after such a failing, the public deserves to know how widespread the failing might be.
A Newham Council spokeswoman said: “We accept the ombudsman’s judgment and have apologized to the mother and have compensated her financially for the time she was in unsuitable accommodation.
“We have also carried out a review of all similar types of emergency accommodation and are satisfied that no other families are in the same position.
“This apartment was intended as emergency accommodation while the council sourced a long-term alternative in the private sector.
