A woman who was forced to stay with an abusive partner for seven months due to a lack of housing support is one of several people who received compensation from Norfolk councils last year.
It comes as new figures have revealed how many complaints were received by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman in a 12-month period between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024.
In total, 32 complaints that were investigated were upheld by the Ombudsman, with the majority, 21, being submitted against Norfolk County Council.
Other authorities that were reprimanded by the independent official include South Norfolk Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Norwich City Council, North Norfolk District Council and Broadland District Council.
HOUSING HORROR
The woman, known as Mrs X, applied to South Norfolk Council's housing register in July 2021, stating she was a victim of domestic abuse from he partner and said both herself and her child needed safe housing.
Following this, there were several months of Mrs X going backwards and forwards with the council's housing team, which meant it took a long time to process her application to the housing register.
READ MORE: Alleged abuse victim paid £56k in compensation by Norfolk County Council
This led to a delay in the council considering her as someone who was threatened with homelessness.
Mrs X complained but it took more than a year for the council to respond.
According to the Ombudsman, this led to Mrs X spending seven months living with a perpetrator of domestic abuse which could have been avoided.
Following the complaint being upheld, SNC agreed to apologise to Mrs X and to pay her £2,100 a month for the time she spent living with her abusive partner, as well as a further £750 due to the "avoidable distress" it caused.
The council has since made changes to how it processes housing applications to avoid a repeat incident.
South Norfolk Cabinet member, Graham Minshull said: “We acknowledge that there was an unacceptable delay in this case which was due to exceptionally high demand for our services at the time.
"We have taken this matter very seriously and have implemented significant changes to our processes to prevent a recurrence. This includes enhanced training for staff, and the introduction of a new policy to automatically trigger a homeless application where there are concerns about domestic abuse.
"We are committed to improving our services and learning from this case to ensure that all residents receive the support they need.”
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BIG PAYOUTS
Norfolk County Council (NCC) has paid out the highest amount in compensation following complaints being upheld by the Ombudsman - £33,306.
Nearly a third of this figure came from one compensation payment of £11,200 after County Hall was found to have made mistakes in its calculation of a woman's personal budget, which resulted in her not being offered a live-in care placement.
The council has also revised its assessment procedures following the outcome.
The second biggest payout was £5,000 which was due to NCC failing to provide alternative education or a personal budget for a student who was no longer able to attend school.
READ MORE: Number of children homeless reaches record high
This was paid to her mother, in recognition of her missed education and for the distress and trouble caused by the fault.
COMPLAINTS RISE
Nationally, there was a 74pc rise in the number of local government complaints upheld, which Ombudsman Amerdeep Somal has said
The majority of complaints centre around poor services for children and young people, social care, and housing.
Ms Amerdeep Somal, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, has said the rise in complaints reflects a sector struggling to cope amid decreasing resources.
Councils have faced huge budget cuts in the last decade, which has left many departments struggling to meet the increasing demand on services, with the cost of living crisis adding to these pressures.
Ms Somal said: “On a national level, what we’re seeing in the majority of cases isn’t a lack of care or an inability to take responsibility for what has gone wrong, but a sector struggling to cope.
“Almost all councils want to comply with our recommendations, accept responsibility when things go wrong, and provide good services to residents. But all too often resources and finances prevent them from doing so as swiftly as they should."
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