North Northamptonshire Council told to pay mother who fled domestic abuse £700 after delays moving into interim accommodation

A Northamptonshire council has been told to pay a mother who fled domestic abuse £700 after she suffered delays in moving into interim accommodation.

In the time taken to arrange temporary housing, the woman said she was assaulted twice by her abuser as he knew where she lived and often arrived unannounced.

A friend of the woman contacted North Northants Council (NNC) on her behalf to say that she was at risk of physical and emotional abuse in her home.

A week later, in which time no accommodation had been offered, the woman’s mental health professional wrote to NNC highlighting the risk she was under and the ‘significant deterioration in [her] mental health’ due to the situation.

The council decided it had ‘reason to believe’ that the woman was eligible for assistance and in priority need of temporary accommodation.

It moved her and her children into interim housing outside the council area on the same day.

The woman said that she was assaulted by the perpetrator in the week that it took her to move and that he had broken the lock on her front door, trashed the house and told his mother he would kill her.

She also said he went to hit her when she had a small child in her arms and, when she flinched, he laughed at her.

The family were moved again, only a few days before Christmas, into another interim property within North Northamptonshire.

The council then identified a final property closer to her family support network around two months after the initial complaint was made, which she moved into.

She told the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) investigating her complaint that NNC only gave her a few hours’ notice of the move.

She also said she was warned by officers that if she refused it she wouldn’t get any further help and her children may be removed from her care because she would not be acting in their ‘best interests’.

She later made a formal complaint about her treatment from the council.

The council said in its complaints response that there was ‘no evidence’ it had given that advice and explained that it would still assist her if she refused the property, but that it would have taken longer to find different housing in the area.

NNC apologised for the delay and trouble caused and offered to pay the mother £200.

She did not accept this and escalated the complaint to the LGO.

The Ombudsman found that if the council had ‘properly considered’ the initial correspondence about her domestic abuse it would have ‘reason to believe’ the woman was in priority need and ‘owed a duty to provide interim accommodation at that point’.

The report wrote: “Whilst I cannot hold the Council responsible for those assaults, it had left her in accommodation that was unsuitable because it left her at the avoidable risk of further domestic abuse. This caused significant distress.”

It also found, on balance, that the council gave inappropriate advice when offering the last property.

The mother gave a ‘credible account’ to the LGO investigation saying she was pressured into accepting the offer for fear her children would be taken away.

The Ombudsman wrote that there was “no reason to doubt her”.

Though the council said it would not have given that advice, it could not provide a record as it failed to send it to the woman in writing.

This meant she did not have the information needed for an informed decision on the housing.

The LGO ruled that NNC must apologise for the ‘injustice caused by its delay in providing interim accommodation’ and ‘inappropriate advice’ and pay the woman a total of £700.

It must also provide evidence it has educated relevant staff on the findings of the report within three months.

North Northants Council has been contacted for comment.