Bed and breakfast accommodation is not suitable to house
young homeless people - even in an emergency - the Local Government Ombudsman
is reiterating. The message has been prompted by an LGO investigation, after a
vulnerable teenager with significant behavioural problems was housed by the
council in a B&B when his home life broke down. The teenager spent five
days in B&B accommodation, but during that time the council did not carry out
a new assessment of his needs – something that it is required to do by
statutory guidance on homeless young people. The council did not realise that
in providing him with accommodation it was treating him as a ‘looked after
child’. The duties to looked after children are very specific and he should not
have been allowed to stay in a B&B, or without significant support. The
first time the council visited him at the B&B, was two days into his stay.
Read more on the LGO website.
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