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Homeless ombudsman

October 01 2024
An untitled artwork by John Sheehy. © John Sheehy An untitled artwork by John Sheehy. © John Sheehy

Simple Simon writes on the need for an ombudsman for homeless people, drawing on some personal experience

Ombudsman needed. Why, you ask? Let me give you a brief explanation. Most big industries (yes, homelessness is a big industry) have an ombudsman who is an independent entity that can look into complaints made against said industry. Now, below I have written a small piece to emphasise why the homeless community requires someone to oversee complaints, which are generally disregarded in my experience by councils, housing associations and some charities.

As a homeless man with roughly 30 years of street life (by choice mainly), I have come to the realisation that homeless people often have no one to turn to when things go wrong! To give an example of this, can you tell me the last time you heard an actual homeless person speak on radio or television? All we get to hear are CEOs, who are generally asking for more funds. Well, as a group, the homeless community has gone from a social problem into an industry involving huge sums of money, where charities, housing associations and councils can act with impunity.

Homeless people often feel like we have no voice and no redress. I myself have witnessed thefts, abuse, lies and gross negligence, yet even official complaints go unheard. On a totally personal level, I was subjected to a living hell during first lockdown whilst in the supposed care of a city council, a housing association and a homeless charity. On trying to resolve matters and address policy I arranged a meeting with all concerned only for everyone to attend and totally dismiss me out of hand, to the extent that not one of them brought a pen and paper. Because of this I started a banner campaign to highlight the problem – only to then be subjected to a campaign of intimidation, harassment and finally arrest.

I have now filed papers against the charity and am awaiting a court date. What I have found is there little to no help for me to follow up on the gross negligence I experienced. I have tried numerous ways to get help, even writing to two MPs for Housing and Homelessness, only to get told they were not a consultant. I have been rebuffed by countless lawyers as it can cost up to £400 an hour for a litigation, so I tried myself – only to lose at pretrial. I had sent evidence, which because of my lack of knowledge was never presented.

Now, this may seem to be about me but it’s not. This can and probably is happening across the country. A second judge told the same council that I had a case against them, before I was evicted.

I would like to start a petition for an ombudsman for homeless people, but unfortunately the petitions website is closed while the new government forms a new committee to oversee them. With a petition it only requires 10,000 signatures for it to be looked into and 100,000 signatures it can be addressed in parliament. So please look out for updates on any proposed petition.


In a nutshell

An ombudsman is a person who has been appointed to look into complaints about companies and organisations. They are independent, free and impartial.

Simon details an experience in which he had very little support. There are services available to people experiencing homelessness, however. You can find local services in the List, in the centre pages of the magazine. The below resources may also be helpful:

  1. You may be eligible for legal aid, visit www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid to check if you qualify
  2. In England, you can make complaints against your local authority to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, see its website for more details www.lgo.org.uk
  3. Citizens Advice provides a range of resources and support on housing, benefits, law, immigration and much more. In England visit: www.citizensadvice.org.uk, for Scotland use: www.cas.org.uk
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December 2024 – January 2025 : Solidarity

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