Officials are attempting to slash the number of ‘incorrect’ council homelessness decisions by inviting organisations to bid for a £4.5 million housing advice contract.
According to inside Housing:
The bidding prospectus for the contract, which will deliver support, advice and training for front line housing and homelessness advice staff from October this year to March 2016, was announced by the Communities and Local Government department yesterday.
The prospectus said officials wanted to save money on contesting court challenges by homeless people who feel they have been unfairly treated by councils.
‘It is intended that provision of the service will lead to a reduction in incorrect housing decisions and save money by reducing expensive legal challenges and facilitating the cost-effective use of local authority resources,’ the prospectus said.
The announcement comes after a number of high profile legal challenges against councils’ homelessness decisions. Croydon Council was ordered by the ombudsman to pay £1,475 to a family in March after housing it in a bed and breakfast for more than seven months.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council was taken to court by a homeless woman last year after the local authority changed its allocations policy allowing it to strike people in temporary accommodation off its housing list.
The contract, which will cover England only, offers grant of up to £1.5 million for the remainder of the 2014/15 and up to £3 million for 2015/16, with the successful bidder announced by the end of June.