Ombudsman issues withering criticism of Croydon’s failing council: ‘Sadly this is not an isolated case in the borough’
This latest ruling against Croydon has been referred to the local government minister, Jim McMahon, just as he is considering whether or not to send in Commissioners to take over the running of the authority that has been under some form of “special measures” since 2020.
This is another adverse report about the council’s maladministration under chief executive Katherine Kerswell that you will never read about on Croydon’s own website or in the Mayor’s propaganda freesheet Dour Croydon.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found that a man with mental health difficulties was left to sleep on the streets, “because council did not do enough to help”.
Inside Croydon has reported before about the overtly hostile approach that the council has adopted to the homeless and street sleepers since Jason Perry became Mayor of Croydon in 2022, including a series of forcible clearances of shelters and town centre subways, persection of a homeless charity that operates out of Queen’s Gardens, and the eviction of squatters from otherwise abandoned and disused council buildings.
Now the Local Government Ombudsman has had cause to reprimand Croydon over its approach.
The Ombudsman has not identified the victim of this latest Croydon Council clusterfuck.
The man first approached the council for help in July 2023 after he had become homeless. The Ombudsman’s investigation found the council lost the man’s records. His mental health worsened and he lost touch with his family.
Months later, the man contacted his family and with their help made a new homelessness application to the council.
In late October, one of the man’s sisters found him sleeping outside her house in the rain. She said her brother could stay with her, but this could not be long-term as she was seriously unwell and his mental health needs meant living with him was challenging.
The council eventually placed the man in interim accommodation in March 2024.
“The council decided it owed him the main housing duty in September,” the Ombudsman reports.
“Later that month, the council sent the man his Personalised Housing Plan which included actions for him to take including to provide his partner’s passport and proof of income. It stated the ‘applicant [was] to view accommodation sent to her’ and that he was to ‘inform the council after the child has been born’.
“The man was the sole applicant and was not pregnant,” the Ombudsman says, apparently trying not to laugh at Croydon Council.
“And the Plan was sent at a time the man had already been provided with temporary accommodation.”
The Ombudsman said: “This was further evidence of the council’s failure to grasp the case.”
Amerdeep Somal, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “This is a clear case of the dire things that can happen when councils are not on top of their homelessness services and allow vulnerable people to fall through the cracks.
“The siblings have told me this has caused substantial damage to their relationships. The man had a mental health crisis during the time he was missing and has since been withdrawn and isolated, and the sisters are still working to rebuild his trust.
“Sadly this is not an isolated case in the borough.
“In the past two years we have investigated eight other homelessness cases and upheld every one.”
Get a grasp: Amerdeep Somal, the Local Government Ombudsman, is deeply unimpressed with Croydon Council
Somal said that she urges the council “to take a firm grasp of its homelessness service to ensure other vulnerable residents are not treated in the same way as this man”.
Somal’s office says that it “shares learning from investigations to help improve public… services”. There’s not been any evidence of Croydon doing much “learning” under its chief exec, Kerswell.
Instead, they have paid off the victim of their maladministration with £8,400 of Council Tax-payers’ money, the bulk of which is to refund the man for the cost of bed and breakfast accommodation he paid for between May and October 2023.
The man’s sisters, who navigated their way through Croydon’s tortuous homelessness system and filed the complaint to the Ombudsman, are to receive £700 from the council “for their distress”.
“The council will review the man’s case to consider what action it needs to take to ensure it identifies and responds to communications from homeless people and their representatives without delay,” the Ombudsman said.
“It will also remind staff about its duties around closing cases, and reconsider what it should do to ensure it issues completed, accurate Personalised Housing Plans to applicants in a timely way.”
Read more: Council accused of cover-up over multi-million agency spend
Read more: McMahon acts after serious concerns on ‘aspects of leadership’
Read more: Welcome to the House of Fun! Squatters claim court victory
Read more: Activists provide shelter to 40 people ignored by council
Read more: Council chief made mates’ rates payments at £726 per hour
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
