Council 'turned away' mother and child fleeing abuse

A council left a domestic abuse survivor and her child homeless after "fundamentally misapplying the law designed to protect victims", an ombudsman has found.

South Gloucestershire Council refused to help the woman despite evidence showing she faced "severe and escalating danger" because she did not have a local connection to the area, according to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).

The LGSCO report said the council had turned the "vulnerable family" away, "sent her back towards danger" and then "simply closed her file".

The council has apologised "unreservedly", saying this situation "should never have happened".

The mother fled domestic abuse in 2023 and moved with her child to a refuge.

When she was told she needed to leave the refuge, she asked South Gloucestershire Council for help.

The ombudsman reported the authority had initially tried to refer her to an area near her family, despite being told her ex-partner had gone there to try to find her.

The council then sent her case back to the local authority where the abuse happened, insisting she would be safe living "three miles" from unsafe addresses.

Officials also dismissed repeated legal challenges from the woman's support worker before closing the case, leaving her with no accommodation or clear way of getting help.

LGSCO Amerdeep Clarke said the risks the woman faced were "clearly documented" and this case "should serve as a wake-up call for every council in the country".

"No victim of domestic abuse should face the prospect of being referred back to the area they fled," she said.

"Getting this wrong does not just cause distress – it puts lives at risk."

She said what concerns her the most is that these decisions were "not made in error by a single officer acting alone" but made with "managerial awareness".

"That suggests this is not about one bad decision," she said.

"It may reflect a wider misapplication of the law that could be affecting other domestic abuse survivors right now, in South Gloucestershire and potentially elsewhere."

The authority has apologised "unreservedly for the mistakes and shortcomings in responding to this family" and agreed to pay £1,000 compensation.

"This situation should never have happened and we know that we must do better," a council spokesperson said.

"While we already have in place a series of actions including additional training for staff and oversight of domestic abuse situations, further work is now being undertaken to address the ombudsman's findings through a detailed action plan."

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