‘The Court of Appeal has held that a homeless person cannot raise alleged breaches of the Equality Act 2010 in a homelessness appeal before a county court judge.’
Local Government Lawyer, 8th August 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Justice Secretary David Gauke today called for an “evidence-led” approach to tackling reoffending in order to crack down on crime and reduce the number of victims.’
Ministry of Justice, 18th July 2019
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
‘Essex County Council has settled a judicial review challenge brought on behalf of a 16-year-old homeless child, admitting that it had operated an unlawful practice of turning homeless children away from care in breach of section 20 of the Children Act 1989.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th July 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Victims of discrimination were being denied access to justice and offenders going unchallenged as a result of a ‘failing’ legal aid system, as reported in the Justice Gap.’
Legal Voice, 21st June 2019
Source: legalvoice.org.uk
‘Samuels v Birmingham City Council [2019] UKSC 28. In unanimously allowing an appeal against a decision to declare the appellant intentionally homeless due to her inability to pay her rent, the Supreme Court affirmed that non-housing benefits are not designed to create a surplus that can be used to account for insufficient housing benefits.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 18th June 2019
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A Court of Protection judge has rejected an application by the Official Solicitor (OS), acting as litigation friend, for the London Borough of Harrow to pay its costs in proceedings under Section 21A of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.’
Local Government Lawyer, 18th June 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘ A High Court judge has rejected a judicial review challenge brought by human rights group Liberty over the refusal to grant civil legal aid for the pursuit of an application to quash prohibitions contained in a public spaces protection order (PSPO).’
Local Government Lawyer, 18th June 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Samuels v Birmingham City Council (2019) UKSC 28. The Supreme Court, finally, has delivered its judgment on the issue of the assessment of “reasonable expenses” when considering the affordability of rent in homelessness decisions.’
Nearly Legal, 16th June 2019
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The supreme court has ordered a council to reconsider its decision to declare a single mother of four to be “intentionally homeless” because she was unable to afford the rent.’
The Guardian, 12th June 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The London Borough of Barnet has defeated an appeal over whether a woman found to be intentionally homeless but who continued to be housed under the Children Act 1989 had security of tenure.’
Local Government Lawyer, 26th April 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘On 16 April 2018, Amber Rudd – then home secretary – stood up in the House of Commons to formally acknowledge the Windrush scandal for the first time. The treatment of immigrants by her department’s “hostile environment” was appalling, she said, vowing to deal with cases within two weeks and put things right. But exactly one year later, the suffering goes on. Many are yet to receive a response to their application to the taskforce, leaving them in a “state of limbo” with little or no information about how their case is progressing.’
The Independent, 16th April 2019
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Homelessness Reduction Act, in operation for the past 12 months, is potentially the greatest piece of homelessness legislation for 40 years in England, according to Southwark council in south London. The Labour-run council pioneered the government’s new flagship act, and is upbeat about it. While homelessness went up in the borough last year, as it did across London, the rise was less steep than expected: 8.6% for families placed in temporary accommodation and a similarly small increase for rough sleepers. At the same time, there was also a 50% increase in the number of people the council helped to stay in their home. “It shows the act works,” says the council’s cabinet member for housing, Stephanie Cryan.’
The Guardian, 10th April 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Someone who does not appeal against a local authority review decision that it has discharged its duty towards them as being homeless cannot later challenge that decision in a subsequent application, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
Local Government Lawyer, 27th March 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Department for Work & Pensions has successfully defended a High Court challenge brought by a homeless man who claimed that its approach to communication was in breach of its duties under the public sector equality duty.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th March 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘In R(B) v Redbridge LBC [2019] EWHC 250 (Admin), Jeremy Johnson QC, sitting as a Deputy Judge, was required to adjudicate on what is, as far as I am concerned, a really important point of practice, given the nature and continuing obligations of suitability of accommodation in homelessness cases, and the increasing number of suitability reviews (especially following the 2017 Act). He also came to the wrong result imho – I wonder if there is an appeal, even if it becomes academic (which it might). Ms B was offered accommodation and sought a review. It was one of those ones where affordability is raised, but, given that one doesn’t know what the bills are going to be for the property at the outset, the reviewer and applicant make approximations. The review went against her, albeit on marginal grounds (and there are various consequential proceedings from that first review and appeal). For the purposes of this application for JR, however, what happened was that Ms B’s actual electricity bill arrived and it was more per week than had originally been estimated. She sought a further review, to which Redbridge did not respond, and which, ultimately, led to these proceedings as Redbridge did not conduct that further review.’
Nearly Legal, 15th February 2019
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Adesotu v Lewisham LBC Case No E40CL183, a decision of HHJ Luba on preliminary issues handed down on 8th February 2019, is so going to the Court of Appeal that the judge (having been satisfied that Ms Adesotu and her household would continue to be accommodated by Lewisham) invited Counsel to agree the route to enable it to get there.’
Nearly Legal, 12th February 2019
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A single mother of four who was was forced into homelessness due to a shortfall in housing benefit is to challenge the government in Britain’s highest court.’
The Independent, 31st January 2019
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Safi v Sandwell BC (2018) EWCA Civ 2876 can be regarded as a footnote of some significance in the factors which are relevant in determining whether a household is homeless for the purposes of s. 175, Housing Act 1996. (And, as a footnote to that footnote, a point for the cognoscenti of review processes: it is interesting that Sandwell has a review panel (whether officer or councillor-led is not clear from the report), which appears to work by way of meetings; such panels, which were frequently constituted prior to and just after the 1996 Act, are rare these days, reviews being conducted commonly by a single officer.)’
Nearly Legal, 21st January 2019
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Legal Aid Agency will have to gear up for another High Court showdown after a civil liberties group was granted permission to challenge the lack of public funding to help homeless people targeted by protection orders aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour.’
Law Society's Gazette, 16th January 2019
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
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