Sheffield homeless woman forced to sofa-surf for three months after falling through cracks in council caseload
A homeless woman’s complaint against the council has been upheld after she was forced to sofa-surf for three months when the officer in charge of her case left their job.
A report published by the Local Government Ombudsman ruled Sheffield City Council was at fault for leaving the woman - known as Miss X - in the lurch for over 90 days during her homelessness application.
According to the document, Miss X had approached Sheffield Council “as being threatened with homelessness” when she was forced out of her home.
She told housing officers she would be able to get by sofa-surfing in the short term.
But when her case officer suddenly left the council, Miss X fell through the cracks and would end up waiting three months for help.
A report by the Ombudsman reads: “The council acknowledged that it had a backlog of cases and created a dedicated team to deal with this.
“Although Miss X’s case was allocated quickly within the team, once the case officer left the council, Miss X waited for three months before the council re-allocated her case.“
The ombudsman found that the council had been aware of its struggle to manage the number of homelessness cases – it has since been put measures in place to clear the backlog.
The ombudsman also added that the council acknowledged “it took longer than usual to process Miss X’s homelessness application due to the backlog.”
Within a month of the council reviewing her case, Miss X was offered a property and was rehoused.
The watchdog concluded that the council was at fault but was also “satisfied” that the council took action to remedy Miss X’s personal injustice.