FI17166
Request
- The council’s internal policies, guidance, or frameworks regarding how housing officers assess the "suitability" of temporary accommodation under Section 206 of the Housing Act 1996.
- The specific procedures housing officers must follow when an applicant in temporary accommodation faces eviction due to alleged licence breaches, particularly where severe physical or psychological vulnerability has been disclosed.
Response
- Suitability assessments are carried out taking account of a number of factors addressing the needs of the household including affordability, location, risk, support needs including family and support services and physical and/or mental health.
- Every case is dealt with on an individual basis but a notice to leave temporary accommodation would be served if there were multiple recorded licence breaches where written warnings had been given by both the temporary accommodation provider and Dover District Council.
Internal Review Documents
Internal Review Request:
Please treat this email as a formal request for an Internal Review of the Council’s handling of my Freedom of Information request.
The response provided does not fulfill the statutory requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Under the Act, I requested copies of recorded information—specifically internal policies, formal written guidance, frameworks, and procedural documents.
Instead of providing copies of held documents, the Council has provided two brief, high-level summary paragraphs written specifically for this response.
To be clear, my request is for the actual recorded documents, policy papers, standard operating procedures, and written guidance issued to housing officers regarding:
- Suitability Assessments: Written policy documents, assessment templates, or operational guidance used by officers when assessing the suitability of temporary accommodation under Section 206 of the Housing Act 1996.
- Evictions / Licence Breaches: Written policies, protocols, or operational workflows that officers must follow prior to issuing a notice to leave temporary accommodation, specifically including guidance on managing cases involving severe physical/psychological vulnerabilities and public sector equality duties.
If Dover District Council holds no formal written policies, training documents, or procedural guidance on these matters and relies solely on unwritten discretion, please explicitly confirm that no such recorded information exists under Section 1(1)(a) of the Act.
Otherwise, please supply the requested documents without further delay.
Internal Review Response:
I am writing in respect of your request for an internal review of the response to your recent Freedom of Information request. I have now had the opportunity to review your request, comments and the legislation and respond to you with my findings.
To summarise your request, you were seeking:
- The council’s internal policies, guidance, or frameworks regarding how housing officers assess the "suitability" of temporary accommodation under Section 206 of the Housing Act 1996.
- The specific procedures housing officers must follow when an applicant in temporary accommodation faces eviction due to alleged licence breaches, particularly where severe physical or psychological vulnerability has been disclosed.
I have obtained additional information to that already provided to you in the original response. Please find attached templates relating to TA placement, risk assessments and suitability. Officers have regard to the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2012, Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities and the Public Sector Equality Duty. New staff receive training on all aspects of these, and refresher training is delivered on an annual basis.
In respect of Evictions/Licence breaches, we have no formal written policy, however, as previously advised, every case is dealt with on an individual basis, taking into account the circumstances of the homeless household. A notice to leave temporary accommodation would be served if there were multiple recorded licence breaches where written warnings had been given by both the temporary accommodation provider and Dover District Council.
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