Attack on hotel worker leads to council rethink over homeless service

AUTHORITY WANTS TO STOP PROVIDING BEDS TO ROUGH SLEEPERS FROM NEIGHBOURING AREAS

AN ATTACK on a hotel worker by a rough sleeper has led a council to rethink the homeless service it provides for other districts.

South Derbyshire District Council wants to stop providing accommodation for the homeless on behalf of other authorities after a rough sleeper attacked a member of staff in a hotel where they had been given a bed for the night.

A claim has since been made against the council by the worker, a report has revealed.

The council has provided an outof-hours homelessness service for other district authorities in Derbyshire and Staffordshire since October 2011 as part of an agreement

As a result of ending the agreement the authority has said it would mean a drop in income of £11,000 but said not providing the out-of hours service to other councils would mean the “burden” on its staff would be reduced.

The report on the matter will be discussed at the council’s housing and community services committee.

Currently, the council’s head of customer services is conducting a review of all council out-of-hours services and the Derbyshire Homeless Officers Group (DHOG) is conducting a review of the homelessness out-of-hours service.

The report to the committee said: “The review by DHOG has been prompted by the increase in demand for out-of hours homelessness services during the Covid-19 pandemic coupled with the increasingly complex nature of applicants’ personal circumstances, which pose an extra burden on staff outside office hours.

“While there are always risks attached to providing services to homeless applicants during office hours, these are magnified outside office hours and multiplied further when providing this service to several other districts.

“These risks have recently been highlighted by a claim against the council from a member of staff at a hotel who was assaulted by an applicant placed there by the homeless out-of-hours service on behalf of another council.”

By law, the council must still provide out-of-hours homelessness services for its own district, but there is no legal requirement for it to provide this on behalf of other districts in the county or outside the county.

The report added: “While the risks posed by South Derbyshire applicants can be mitigated further through enhanced processes, procedures and data sharing arrangements with other services, the council is not in a position to in effect contract this risk from other providers without being unduly exposed.

“There are no direct employment implications contained within this report, although not providing the out-of hours service to other councils will mean the burden on staff will be reduced.”

The report is set to be discussed on Thursday.