‘Folkestone and Hythe Council was threatened with a court summons by the Local Government Ombudsman over its handling of a complaint about its treatment of a homeless family.’
Local Government Lawyer, 20th February 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A young and highly vulnerable British sex trafficking victim was re-trafficked by county lines drug gangs on multiple occasions after the Home Office repeatedly refused to fulfil its legal obligation to provide her with safe accommodation.’
The Guardian, 16th February 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Giving judgment in the case of Al-Ahmed v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council [2020] EWCA Civ 51 on 30 January 2020, the Court of Appeal gave important guidance on when a homeless applicant may be permitted to bring an appeal outside of the 21-day time limit, against a local authority’s decision on his or her homeless application. It rejected a High Court decision which had found that the requirements of bringing a homelessness appeal were not ‘especially sophisticated or taxing’ and therefore there was not a good reason why Mr Al Ahmed could not have issued the appeal as a litigant in person during the time limit.’
Garden Court Chambers, 30th January 2020
Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk
‘We saw the High Court in this case take an incredibly strict approach to homelessness section 204 appeal timescales (our report), deciding that seeking legal aid representation could not be a good reason for filing an appeal out of time because, well, the substance of any appeal should be obvious to an unrepresented homeless applicant. We expressed considerable doubts about the realism of this decision at the time. Now, as it turns out, the Court of Appeal has had similar doubts.’
Nearly Legal, 2nd February 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court ruling that the fact a homeless applicant was unrepresented and seeking legal aid was not a “good reason” for delay in bringing an appeal under s.204 of the Housing Act 1996 against an adverse review decision under the homelessness provisions of that Act.’
Local Government Lawyer, 31st January 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has agreed to consider service resources and “the changes it needs to make to work in line with the law” after a Local Government and Social Ombudsman investigation into how a pregnant woman, who approached the council for help when she was made homeless, was left in an unfurnished flat, miles from her support network.’
Local Government Lawyer, January 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A Deputy High Court judge has quashed a decision by a borough council to refuse a claimant’s second homelessness application, after it failed to take into account new medical evidence.’
Local Government Lawyer, 16th December 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) 2017 came into effect on 3rd April 2018 and places new legal duties on local authorities so that everyone who is homeless, or at risk of homelessness, should have access to meaningful help, irrespective of their priority need status, as long as they are eligible for assistance. The Act amends part VII of the Housing Act 1996 and is arguably the biggest change in homelessness legislation since the Housing
(Homelessness Persons) Act 1977.’
Pump Court Chambers, 12th November 2019
Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com
‘The Court of Appeal on section 202 Housing Act 1996 reviews of suitability and what facts should be relevant at the time of review.’
Nearly Legal, 26th November 2019
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Human rights campaigners have launched a landmark legal bid to determine whether homeless people are being “criminalised” by fines against begging and leaving bedding in doorways.’
Rights Info, 8th November 2019
Source: rightsinfo.org
‘A third of the inmates at Europe’s largest female jail spend three weeks or under behind bars, watchdogs have revealed.’
Daily Telegraph, 4th November 2019
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A landmark high court case will determine whether fines for begging, loitering and leaving bedding in doorways unfairly targets homeless people, after a fundraising campaign for legal costs reached its target.’
The Guardian, 4th November 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A woman who travelled to Mauritius to see her father after he had suffered a stroke has lost her appeal against an order by a County Court judge refusing her application for permission to bring an appeal out of time over a council’s decision that it had discharged its housing duty.’
Local Government Lawyer, 30th Octobe 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘In Guiste v Lambeth LBC (2019) EWCA Civ 1758, the Court of Appeal returned again to the meaning of Lord Neuberger’s eliptical phrase in Hotak v Southwark LBC that, for the purposes of the homelessness provisions in the Housing Act 1996, vulnerability meant being significantly more vulnerable than ordinarily vulnerable as a result of being made homeless. The decision in Guiste (I’m told that it is pronounced “Geest” as opposed to “Gwist”) in some respects is one on its facts, but the Court of Appeal make a number of observations of significance in these cases and leave one point open (albeit give their penniworth on it). As an academic interested in the field, I wonder at the amount of effort,time, and money spent in arguing the toss about vulnerability, and whether there might be better uses of that effort/time/cash, but there we go; that’s why we have our tower.’
Nearly Legal, 29th October 2019
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has given further guidance on the vexed meaning of vulnerability for the purposes of the homelessness provisions in the Housing Act 1996, Part 7, and the handling of medical evidence.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 22nd October 2019
Source: www.doughtystreet.co.uk
‘Emambee v London Borough of Islington (2019) EWHC 2835 (QB). We saw what seemed like a rather harsh refusal on permission to bring a s.204 Housing Act 1996 homelessness appeal out of time in London Borough of Hamlets v Al Ahmed (2019) EWHC 749 (QB) (our note). Here is another one which seems to take a strict view, both on when the s.202 review decision was received, and on delay to obtain legal representation.’
Nearly Legal , 27th october 2019
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A homeless man convicted of stalking Harry Styles after camping outside his house has been banned from going within 250m of the singer.’
BBC News, 21st October 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Child victims of modern slavery are being lured back into exploitation and falling into homelessness as cash-strapped local authorities struggle to cope with a surge in cases, charities have warned. Thousands of young people who have been trafficked and exploited, often by county lines gangs or through international criminal networks, are being left to navigate complex legal, education and immigration systems alone because austerity-hit services cannot adequately support them.’
The Independent, 18th October 2019
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘SH, R (on the application of) v The London Borough of Waltham Forest (2019) EWHC 2618 (Admin). This was a judicial review of Waltham Forest’s decision that it had discharged its s.193 Housing Act 1996 duty (the full homeless duty) to Ms SH by an offer of private sector accommodation under s.193(7AA). In fact, WF maintained it had done so twice, and both purported discharges were challenged, by way of WF’s decision that Ms SH had made a fresh application, rather than it having a continuing duty. There is also a brief excursus into the relation of s.193 and s.189B duties.’
Nearly Legal, 13th October 2019
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A scheme giving vulnerable ex-offenders stable accommodation to help them rebuild their lives and stay away from crime is now up and running, Prisons Minister Lucy Frazer announced today (10 October 2019).’
Ministry of Justice, 10th october 2019
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
© Inner Temple Library 2020