Forum Home → Discussion → Housing costs → Thread
hospital stay over 52weeks
I have a client who was due to be discharged from hospital but this has been delayed due to Covid.
client is specialist hospital in England due to complex needs.
52 weeks expires at end of May and its highly inlikely she will be allowed to travel back to her home , is there anything in place to add benefit past the 52 weeks?
Nothing. There have been a couple of unsuccessful challenges to this over the past few years:
Thanks
I was wondering if any emergency legislation was being considered as this failure to return has came about due to a national emergency and tenant has no option open to them.
CLAWD9 looked at absences outside GB where the stay exceeds the statutory allowed period, but it did not mention any absences within the GB
I have posted elsewhere that we were told by Pension Service colleagues that Ministers wanted to try and ensure people didn’t lose out due to absences exceeding statutory limits like this.
However, the problem here is two-fold in that not only is there no apparent way to do this through the legislation as Peter notes, you’re also dealing with a local authority and not the DWP. Given that LA’s have been given exceptional funding due to the pandemic, maybe see whether they’d consider making some kind of extra-statutory payment for now?
Hi Steph,
Did you have any luck with this? We’ve got a similar situation: cl lives in disabled residential community, but went to stay with his mother for a few months, intending to return before 52 weeks but then, y’know, Covid. Cl is not allowed back in to the residential community as they have fully locked down.
I know theres the relaxation of outside GB rules now, but nothing on inside the UK. Our local council are digging their heels in an refusing to pay, but it just seems so unnecessarily stingy. Its supported accommodation and cl cant afford it, is still being charged rent, and isnt allowed back to it. Rubbish all round.
Any ideas would be great!
Hi Steph,
Did you have any luck with this? We’ve got a similar situation: cl lives in disabled residential community, but went to stay with his mother for a few months, intending to return before 52 weeks but then, y’know, Covid. Cl is not allowed back in to the residential community as they have fully locked down.
I know theres the relaxation of outside GB rules now, but nothing on inside the UK. Our local council are digging their heels in an refusing to pay, but it just seems so unnecessarily stingy. Its supported accommodation and cl cant afford it, is still being charged rent, and isnt allowed back to it. Rubbish all round.Any ideas would be great!
Could you not argue to the residential community that they should not be charging him rent if they will not allow him back in? You can understand their point of view but they are surely in breach of contract and nothing in any of the Covid legislation, as far as I know, changes that.
I would suggest that your client takes expert housing advice as I think it needs to be clearly addressed whether his exclusion from his property is lawful.
Thanks both. Yes, I agree - we’ve tried to persuade his mum (who we speak to as he has no capacity) to get some housing advice re: not being allowed back in his flat, but she does not want to do this. I think she’s worried about souring the relationship of the place he needs to live.
In addition, he actually wouldnt be able to go back even if the community was abiding by national guidance. Hes got very severe mental health problems and basically isnt leaving the bathroom of his mums house at the moment. Prior to lockdown, they were doing a phased, supported return. This is pretty much impossible until covid-19 is completely under control, but its the only way he’ll be able to return.
I’m submitting a JR Pre-Action letter. I reckon that the LA needs to make reasonable adjustments to the fact that he isn’t able to return in line with national guidance as he needs a phased return, so, in effect, he cannot get back even if the community allowed him.
I’m doing Article 1, Protocol 1 and / or Article 8, read with Article 14 of ECHR. If anyone has any other ideas (or knows of any lawyers who will take it on pro-bono - hes going to have an issue with legal aid as he got a backpayment of benefit last year), please let me know!
In both these cases might it be worth also asking the DWP if it will introduce an easement to cover these situations? It seems from CLAWD 9/20 this can be done simply by an agreement between DWP and Treasury, without amending legislation. The payments are extra-statutory. It’s a political decision so maybe you could ask local MPs to write to the DWP Secretary of State and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
In both these cases might it be worth also asking the DWP if it will introduce an easement to cover these situations? It seems from CLAWD 9/20 this can be done simply by an agreement between DWP and Treasury, without amending legislation. The payments are extra-statutory. It’s a political decision so maybe you could ask local MPs to write to the DWP Secretary of State and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Oh, thats a great suggestion! I’ll confirm that the cl is happy to get the MP involved and see what we can push. Can I just check what CLAWD stands for? I think I’ve missed that acronym and I cant find it on a quick google…
I think is referring to internal DWP bulletin to local authorities CLAWD9/2020 about people who have been unable to return to UK due to Covid-19 - mentioned in this thread -
https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/16096
I have a client who was due to be discharged from hospital but this has been delayed due to Covid.
client is specialist hospital in England due to complex needs.52 weeks expires at end of May and its highly inlikely she will be allowed to travel back to her home , is there anything in place to add benefit past the 52 weeks?
Only way around this I believe is if you can show that she visited her house in those 52 weeks for a night or went AWOL for a night- the hospital records can be used as proof. But probably if she has complex needs that may not be the case.