City council backtracks on decision and agrees payouts to families stuck in B&Bs for months

It will still have to consider the report at a higher level and send a formal response to the ombudsman.

At the same time, Leicester City Council agreed to pay £1,750 to a woman and her family who had stayed in B&Bs for 19 weeks after fleeing domestic abuse.

It had previously rejected calls from the LGSCO to make the payment as it claimed the national housing crisis meant breaching the limit was “unavoidable”.

The council said it changed its mind after being assured that the two payments would not have a wider impact on its finances.

A city council spokesman said: “We stand by our position that a national homelessness crisis and 14 years of government cuts have significantly impacted councils’ ability to meet requirements based on legislation that is more than 20 years old.

“Following clarification from the ombudsman that these payments will not set a wider precedent affecting council finances, we have accepted its recommendations in these two cases.

“We continue to invest in affordable housing in Leicester, with more than £400m committed since 2019 to deliver over 1,000 homes, and a further 1,500 to be provided by 2027.”

Amerdeep Clarke, the local government and social care ombudsman, said: “I welcome the council’s change of position, which finally recognises the trauma these families have experienced, and I hope this may give them some closure to the issues.

“The combined total of £5,275 is a modest acknowledgement of what the families experienced. As we have previously stated, all our recommendations are based on the particular injustices found in each case – we don’t punish councils or set precedents for other investigations.”