Bristol City Council has apologised and paid compensation for losing a homeless woman’s belongings. The Local Government Ombudsman upheld a complaint against the authority for how it ended her temporary accommodation and failing to stop most of her personal items being disposed of before she was discharged from hospital, causing “avoidable distress and anxiety”.
The watchdog’s report said the woman, Ms X, suffered from a serious medical condition which meant she regularly spent time as an in-patient. It said she applied as homeless in 2021 and the council placed her in interim accommodation but she left in April 2023 after being admitted to hospital, where she would remain for the next nine months.
The report said: “The council decided to end Ms X’s temporary accommodation. This was because the hospital told the council Ms X was acutely unwell and she would be staying there for a long time.
“Internal council emails showed the council considered it had a duty to ensure Ms X’s belongings were not at risk of loss or damage.” It said the woman’s housing adviser at the local authority contacted the accommodation provider and agreed for it to hold onto her belongings for a short time while the council arranged storage.
The report said City Hall offered Ms X a direct offer of accommodation through its housing register in November 2023 and she accepted before leaving hospital two months later. “In early January 2024, hospital staff made Ms X aware the accommodation provider had disposed of Ms X’s possessions,” the report said.
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It said she complained to the council but was not satisfied with its response so appealed to the ombudsman. The report said: “The case notes showed Ms X’s housing adviser contacted different members of staff at the council to try to arrange storage of Ms X’s possessions, however no one seemed to know the relevant person or team who could arrange storage of Ms X’s belongings.
“The council has since said it believed Ms X’s friend and the hospital were speaking to the accommodation provider about the removal of her belongings, however I have not seen evidence of this. If this was the case, the council should have told Ms X it would no longer be taking steps to protect her belongings and provided her with its reasons.
“I have seen no evidence the council did this. This was fault. I am satisfied on balance the council knew Ms X could not arrange for storage of her belongings due to being seriously ill in hospital and did not have anyone who could do this for her, therefore it should have arranged to store Ms X’s belongings.
“I find the council was at fault in failing to respond to Ms X’s requests for help with her belongings. The council should make a symbolic payment to Ms X for the avoidable distress caused.”
The watchdog said the council caused her injustice and told it to apologise, pay the woman £500 to “recognise the avoidable distress and anxiety she experienced as a result of the way the council responded to her request to help store her belongings” and issue guidance to staff about who or which team to contact to arrange storage of someone’s possessions.
Bristol City Council homes and housing delivery committee chairman Cllr Barry Parsons (Green, Easton) said: “We accept the ombudsman’s decision on this case and we are working towards completion of the agreed actions to prevent future occurrences.
“We apologise for the upset and distress caused in this situation. To ensure officers understand their duties, they have received updated guidance on our process for arranging storage of personal belongings of homeless applicants and the support available.
“We are continuing work to updates to our policy and guidance for ending interim and temporary accommodation and we are on track to meet the early March deadline.”
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