… try again!
Last week, Hackney council tried to evict an 8 year old disabled and autistic boy and his family from their council home – an eviction by bailiffs. High point for civilisation, that was.
The London Renters’ union and other supporters and neighbours stopped the eviction, but needless to say, a letter has been received to say that the bailiffs will be sent again.
In this latest podcast episode, the boy’s 18 year old sister explains what that is like. She lives in the home, so she’ll be evicted too.
This is a council actively making a disabled autistic boy homeless when he and his family could be granted a tenancy in their council home. Instead, the family will be put in temporary housing in Newham – miles away from his school and support, and the routine he relies on.
And this at a time when we’re hearing story after story about the terrible effects of temporary housing on SEND kids.
I’ll be back.
Hi, Kate
At the book launch for Guy Standing’s ‘Human Capital: The Tragedy of the Education Commons’ this Tuesday 17 February, if I can ask my question, it will probably be something like, “Perhaps the most fundamental reason that implementing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities legislation is that the ‘authorities’ want to keep the most vulnerable in society at their mercy?
Warm regards
Xx
It can be hard to think otherwise.
I (and plenty of others) have generally found Hackney council very hard to deal with. They just refuse to budge, even on equalities issues such as this one.
Without exception in my dealings with the council so far, councillors defer to officers. When you ask a councillor to intervene, they go away for a couple of days and then simply send you the officer reports that you already have. I get the feeling that councillors struggle to challenge officer decisions, or cannot or will not make arguments for discretion, even on equalities grounds. I have occasionally thought that councillors need legal input to challenge officer interpretation of councillors’ own policies, in the way that constituents do.
Discretion is an option. It often is at councils.
This is one of the appendices for the council’s allocations policy:
Appendix 7 – Discretionary Powers
“The allocation scheme cannot cover every eventuality. In special cases with exceptional needs and extraordinary circumstances, the Assistant Directors of Benefits & Homelessness Prevention and Tenancy Services have a jointly-held discretionary power to, for example, award additional priority and approve offers of housing, taking into consideration all factors relevant to housing and social needs including the overall demand for and supply of social housing.”
The council can actually offer housing/grant tenancies external to its allocation policy. It just chooses not to interpret its own guidelines in favour of constituents.
Ooooh, wouldn’t you know, Hackney is a Labour run council! Does Labour have any shame? Evicting vulnerable kids should be illegal.
I’m not sure that Labour is ‘centre left’ any more. After the recent Caerphilly by-election a well known Welsh political comentator turned Green party member commented that Ted Heath’s Conservative goverenment was more progressive and ‘left wing’ than present day Labour.
This is about human decency, which should be a paramount consideration, especially over what seems to be bureaucratic stupidity on the part of the council.
Name and SHAME the bastards!
Hope all is well Kate, and Trevor, it you’re still there, I hope all is better for you than it was.
Hello! Hope you’re well too xx
… and yes, god bless the Labour party. They just never disappoint.