A disabled Islington woman was left in a state of neglect after her local council took too long to decide what funding it would give her to manage her own support needs, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has reported.

The woman has several long-term health conditions that make it difficult for her to complete many daily activities.

From when the woman left hospital for the first time in March 2023, Islington council was contacted several times by professionals, including her GP and Occupational Therapist, stating the woman’s needs were urgent.

However, the council said it had a waiting list and her case had yet to be allocated to someone to deal with it.

In October the woman contacted the council, telling it she was housebound and had not had a bath or shower for 12 months. She said she was scared the council would “leave her to die”.

The council did visit the following month, but did not carry out an assessment until December – some nine months after she left hospital. The assessment noted she was bed bound, but no budget for a care package was put in place by the time the woman first complained to the Ombudsman in April 2024, despite safeguarding concerns being raised by her friends and the local fire brigade.

The woman was hospitalised for a second time in June 2024 without yet receiving any payments for her care.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Ms Amerdeep Somal said:

“It’s incomprehensible with the evidence available and the number of contacts the council has had, why it left a woman with significant and very obvious unmet needs without any care and support for months on end when she left hospital.

“I am pleased the council has accepted my recommendations to improve the way it prioritises cases in its waiting list. I hope this ensures people with such serious needs do not go without vital support for too long in future.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise to the woman and pay her £3,000 to recognise the distress and loss of care and support.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council has agreed to devise and implement written guidelines for prioritising cases for social care assessments and instruct staff to offer people with unmet eligible care and support needs an interim care package to meet their needs before closing a case.

Ayer tuvo lugar en el paraninfo de la Universidad de A Coruña la ceremonia de entrega de la quinta edición de los Premios Valedora do Pobo, promovidos por esta institución y con la colaboración de las tres universidades galegas.

El acto contó con la intervención de la magistrada afgana Rahima Sabiri, que reside como refugiada en Galicia, quien trasladó la difícil situación que viven las mujeres en su país que no pueden hacer nada, especialmente en el sistema judicial y político, manifestando que durante sus años de ejercicio intentó luchar por la justicia, los derechos de las mujeres y de la gente más desfavorecida de su país.

Los trabajos galardonados este año fueron cuatro, muy diversos en su temática y pertenecientes las ganadoras dos a la universidad de A Coruña y las otras una a la universidad de Vigo y la otra a la de Santiago.

-Xoana Abraira de Bernardo, por “El oficio de lavar: una cartografía sensible”, fue ganadora ex aequo del premio al trabajo fin de grado, y presenta un acercamiento al oficio de lavandera a través de los relatos sociales presentes en nuestra tierra, y poniendo el foco a través de las artes plásticas en la “necesidad de conocer aquella parte de la historia que debido al género de sus protagonistas fue progresivamente quedando en el olvido”

– Rosalía Sánchez, por su trabajo “Los delitos contra la libertad sexual: precedentes, regulación actual y el pilar fundamental del consentimiento “ comparte ex aequo el premio al mejor TFG. El trabajo tiene por objetivo explicar desde la perspectiva del Derecho Penal la evolución histórica del bien jurídico y la regulación de los delitos contra la libertad sexual, teniendo en cuenta , asimismo, la percepción social del tema, y abordándolo desde una perspectiva de género.

-Sarah Lamas es ganadora ex aequo por su TFM titulado “A la caza de las tránsfugas: violencia contra las mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales en el espacio público” que analiza la violencia que sufren las mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales en espacio público, una realidad cotidiana pero poco atendida, expone, tanto por las políticas públicas como por el activismo. El motivo de su investigación es, precisamente, abordar esta distancia desde el diálogo con la teoría feminista y los estudios lésbicos/queer.

– Iria Fernández Sánchez, comparte premio fin de master por su trabajo titulado” Referentes femeninos en la historia de la música”. En el mismo se presenta una Unidad Didáctica destinada a la visibilización de las mujeres compositoras que han existido a lo largo de la Historia de la Música.  Manifiesta que resulta necesario que se proporcione una educación en las aulas que tenga en cuenta esta marginación de las creadoras y las composiciones femeninas en concreto y por extensión también de la figura femenina en el ámbito musical, tanto como intérpretes como directoras.  La invisibilidad de las mujeres en la historia de la música no se debe a una falta de talento, sino a una exclusión sistemática basada en roles de género.

En el acto también participaron el rector de la Universidad de Coruña, Ricardo Cao; la conselleira de Política Social e Igualdad de la Xunta, Fabiola García Martínez; la coordinadora de la Oficina de Igualdad de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Sonia Esperanza Rodríguez Boente; y la directora de la Unidad de Igualdad de la Universidad de Vigo, Yolanda Rodríguez Castro.

“A la caza de las tránsfugas: violencia contra las mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales en el espacio público”. Autora: Sarah Lamas, Universidade da Coruña.

“Referentes femeninos en la Historia de la Música: propuesta didáctica para visualizar las principales mujeres compositoras de la Historia de la Música en las aulas de 3º de ESO”. Autora: Iria María Fernández Sánchez, da Universidade da Coruña.

“Os delitos contra a liberdade sexual: prevención, regulación e o piar fundamental do consentimento” Autora Rosalía Suárez Sánchez, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.

“O oficio de lavar: unha cartografía sensible” Autora: Xoana Abraira de Bernardo, Universidade de Vigo.

Ein Mann beschwerte sich bei der Volksanwaltschaft, weil er keinen der fünfzehn Grillplätze an der Neuen Donau reservieren konnte. Während des Jahres sei es unmöglich gewesen, einen Grillplatz zu reservieren bzw. wären Reservierungen prinzipiell nur für das laufende – ausgebuchte – Jahr möglich. Als er es Anfang Jänner abermals probieren wollte, sei jedoch schon wieder kein einziger Grillplatz frei gewesen. Er vermutete einen Fehler im System.

Die Volksanwaltschaft wandte sich an den Wiener Bürgermeister und konfrontierte ihn mit der Beschwerde. Tatsächlich habe man das Reservierungssystem Ende Dezember gewartet, wobei kein Wartungshinweis erschienen sei, sondern eine Fehlermeldung. Das Reservierungssystem werde am ersten Werktag nach dem 6. Jänner freigeschaltet, was 2025 Dienstag, der 7. Jänner gewesen wäre. Bereits am 7. Jänner habe es dann jedoch schon 1800 Reservierungen gegeben.

„Kein Wunder, dass dann für den Rest des Jahres keine Reservierungen mehr möglich sind“, so dazu Volksanwältin Elisabeth Schwetz. Die Stadt Wien habe aber versprochen, künftig nicht nur den ersten Tag bekanntzugeben, an dem für das laufende Jahr Reservierungen möglich sind, sondern auch die Uhrzeit, ab wann dies freigeschaltet werde. „Vielleicht wäre es hier sinnvoll, generell ein anderes Reservierungssystem zu überlegen“, so Volksanwältin Schwetz.

During February, our SWF team

• responded to 71 enquiries
• made 58 decisions
  • 20 community care grants
  • 38 crisis grants
• upheld 11 (55% of) of community care grants and 9 (24% of) of crisis grants
• signposted an additional 30 applicants to other sources of assistance. 66% of these (27) were calling us instead of their local council in error
• received 11 enquiries from local councils seeking advice on the guidance 

Statutory Guidance update 

This month we are running training sessions for local authorities to support them with the changes to the SWF statutory guidance. 

The changes to the guidance were proposed by the Statutory Guidance Committee, which was formed as part of the Scottish Welfare Fund Review Action Plan. 

As a member of the committee, we were pleased to contribute towards:

• The introduction of the ‘Essentials Guarantee’ methodology for crisis grant calculations to ensure that they meet the need
• A move towards trust-based evidence gathering
• A stronger emphasis on the principles of dignity and respect
• A simpler way of assessing low income for eligibility
• An emphasis on learning from the outcomes of first tier reviews 

These changes will increase fairness for applicants, improve clarity for decision makers and promote learning and improvement.

Case summaries 

We changed several decisions this month as local authorities did not make sufficient enquiries to arrive at a robust decision. We found that the information provided by the applicant indicated that further enquiries should be made.

When applicants incur detriment sourcing items themselves

C applied for a community care grant to replace items in their property after their child vandalised their home. They applied for a double bed and mattress, a single bed and mattress, carpet for one bedroom, hall stairs and landing, a washing machine, a chest of drawers, a double bedding set, and redecoration costs.

The council declined the application because they could not verify the Police Scotland reference numbers that C supplied. Therefore, they assessed that C's circumstances did not match the qualifying criteria for a grant.

We reviewed the council's file and spoke with C. They did not know why the Police Scotland reference numbers were not recognised. However, they confirmed that the housing team were aware of the damage and had already carried out some repairs to the property. We spoke with C's housing officer and local neighbourhood team and were satisfied that the incident occurred as described. Therefore, we were satisfied that the application met the qualifying criteria related to exceptional pressure. 

Recommendations

• Award C a double bed, a single bed, a washing machine, carpet for one room, hall and stairs, a chest of drawers and redecoration costs. C had sourced some of the items themselves, so we agreed actual cost reimbursement for the beds. We assessed that two thirds of the flooring costs could be awarded, as flooring for an additional room was included on the flooring invoice. We also calculated an award of £130.00 in respect of redecorating costs and that the council should provide a washing machine

Feedback for the Council

• The council did not make sufficient follow-up enquiries based on the information provided on the application about the C’s circumstances.

We asked the organisation to provide us with confirmation that the award was made within one week.