A teenager was left to sofa surf and live in a tent for almost two months by a local authority during the Covid-19 pandemic, an investigation has found.

Medway Council has apologised after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found it missed at least five opportunities to house the teenager and his mother during the summer last year, leaving them to sleep rough.

When the mother first approached the council, it decided it had no duty to house her and her 16-year-old son under its homelessness obligations.

It did put them in temporary accommodation because of its child protection duties, but they became homeless in the middle of July last year when the children’s services department asked them to leave.

The ombudsman states the council failed to consider government guidance in force during the lockdown, which asked landlords to work with renters who may experience hardship as a result of the pandemic.

When they left the temporary accommodation, the family had nowhere to go, and the teenager called the council saying he and his mother were sleeping in a tent.

The mother continued to contact the council throughout July, and filled in a change of circumstances form at the beginning of August explaining she and her son had been on the streets for a few weeks. There is no record of the council taking any action upon receipt of the form.

'The council in this case failed in its duties to a vulnerable teenager who was sleeping rough, and it missed numerous opportunities to ensure he was safe...'

At the beginning of September, the mother contacted the council with the help of the charity Shelter to say she and her son had been homeless since July 13.

The council told the mother it would not provide her with temporary accommodation and she should find her own private rented accommodation.

The mum contacted the ombudsman on September 8 and the investigator asked the council to make an urgent review of the case.

The family were moved to bed and breakfast on September 11 and during the investigation the council offered them a two-bedroomed property.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “Our investigations into issues occurring during the pandemic have to balance the difficult circumstances and the speed at which laws were changing, against what should have reasonably happened.

“Despite these challenging circumstances, the council in this case failed in its duties to a vulnerable teenager who was sleeping rough, and it missed numerous opportunities to ensure he was safe.

“I do, however, welcome the swift action the council took when we alerted it to the family’s situation, and hope the training it has agreed to provide to relevant staff should ensure cases such as this do not happen in future.

“From what we’ve seen so far, the issues in this case are not indicative of how councils generally responded to public concerns during Covid-19.

"But we decided this case contained sufficient learning that others could take on board. Some of the problems in the case mirror issues we were seeing before the pandemic, but which have been amplified by the impact of COVID-19.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s role is to remedy injustice and share learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services.

The ombudsman says the council has agreed to apologise to the teenager and his mother and pay them £1,500 each to reflect the distress and hardship they were caused.

It will also pay the mother an additional £200 to reflect the fact she was not listened to when she reported being street homeless on a number of occasions.

The council has also agreed to decide whether the teenager is owed any duty or service under the Children Act and provide that service, and it should also consider if it owes him any duty under the Housing Act.

It will also decide whether the mother is owed the full housing duty and issue her with a written decision on her homelessness application.

Refresher training will also be given to staff in its housing department to ensure they understand their duties under the Housing Act.

A Medway Council spokesman said: “We fully accept the recommendations made by the Local Government Ombudsman and we have apologised to the individuals involved, as well as made recompense.

"We are committed to learning from specific cases, such as this, to improve the service we provide to those at risk of becoming homeless and in need of additional support.

"Staff in our housing allocations and housing options teams will also be provided with refresher training on identifying information from potential applicants.

“We have ensured that the family are now in permanent accommodation.

“During the pandemic we have provided temporary accommodation to hundreds of households and individuals who have needed additional support.

"Supporting our most vulnerable residents remains our top priority and we will continue to do all we can to prevent homelessness, including providing advice on the issues which can cause someone to become at risk of losing their home.

"We will also continue to work with partner agencies to continue offering specialist support to those who find themselves in need of accommodation.”

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