Making a referral that does not bounce

A referral that comes back with questions has cost the person a week. A referral that is accepted on incomplete information and breaks down in a fortnight has cost them a great deal more than that. Most of the difference is decided before anybody reads a form.

Who holds the duty to refer, and who does not#Link to this section, Who holds the duty to refer, and who does not

Under section 213B of the Housing Act 1996, inserted by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, a specified public authority that thinks someone it is dealing with may be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days must — with that person’s consent — notify a local housing authority of their choice. The list of specified authorities is closed. It includes prison governors and directors of contracted-out prisons, governors of young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure colleges, youth offending teams, providers of probation services, designated Jobcentre Plus officers, social services authorities, persons performing local authority functions, emergency departments, urgent treatment centres and inpatient hospitals in NHS trusts and foundation trusts, and the Secretary of State for Defence for the regular armed forces.

The local housing authority then owes its own duties — the prevention duty under section 195 and the relief duty under section 189B, each running 56 days, with a personalised housing plan.

A private supported housing provider is not on that list and does not hold the duty to refer. We are on the receiving end of it, which is the opposite relationship. Some providers blur this in their copy and it is worth noticing when they do, because a provider who has misunderstood which way the duty runs has probably misunderstood other things too.

What a decision actually turns on#Link to this section, What a decision actually turns on

A placement decision is a judgement about whether this person can live safely and well in this building, with these other residents, with this level of support, funded this way. Five things carry that judgement.

1. The risk picture, complete#Link to this section, 1. The risk picture, complete

Not a summary. History of violence or exploitation, in either direction. Fire-setting. Self-harm and suicide risk. Substance use, including what is currently being used and what the person says about it. Safeguarding history, current concerns, and any enquiry that is open. Restrictions, licence conditions, bail conditions, exclusion zones. Known associates who present a risk, and people the person must not be housed near.

Leaving something out to get a placement over the line is the most damaging thing a referrer can do, and it is more common than anyone admits. It does not protect the person. It puts them in a building whose staffing, layout and mix were chosen on facts that were not true, and it usually ends with an eviction and a worse placement. We would far rather be told something difficult and say no than not be told and say yes.

2. Who is delivering the support, and what kind#Link to this section, 2. Who is delivering the support, and what kind

Whether support is commissioned and by whom; who the named worker is; what is being provided and how often; whether the support is tied to the accommodation or floats independently of it. And crucially: whether the person needs personal care — help with washing, dressing, toileting or eating. If they do, we are not the provider of it, and a separate CQC-registered provider has to be in place. Sorting that out after a move-in is not fixable at speed.

3. How the housing costs will be met#Link to this section, 3. How the housing costs will be met

Which local authority will administer the Housing Benefit claim, whether a claim has been made or can be made, whether there is an existing Universal Credit claim, whether the person has income from work, and whether there is a local connection question with the authority. Entitlement belongs to the resident and is decided claim by claim, so an unresolved funding position is a live risk to the placement rather than an administrative detail to follow up later.

4. Consent, and the basis for sharing#Link to this section, 4. Consent, and the basis for sharing

A referral moves special category data — health, mental health, substance use — and often criminal offence data. Both need a lawful basis under the UK GDPR and a condition under Article 9 or Article 10, and there needs to be a route for sharing that everyone can point at, whether that is the person’s consent, a data sharing agreement, or the safeguarding condition in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018. Tell us what the basis is. Our privacy notice sets out how we handle it once it reaches us.

5. The practical things that decide whether it works#Link to this section, 5. The practical things that decide whether it works

Immigration status and documents, because a Right to Rent check is required unless a specific exclusion applies to that scheme or that placement, and the exclusions are narrower than people assume. Accessibility needs and whether the person can manage stairs. Pets. Whether the person has ever lived independently before. Whether they want this. A placement nobody has discussed with the person it is for is a placement with a countdown on it.

What we will and will not do with a referral#Link to this section, What we will and will not do with a referral

• We will tell you what we would need in order to decide, rather than sending the form back marked incomplete.
• We will say no when we cannot meet the need, and say what we think would suit better. An early no is worth more than a late yes.
• We will not give you a move-in date before there is a decision and a room. A date is a promise about a building and other people in it.
• We will not publish a placement rate, an outcome percentage or an assessment turnaround time. We do not have measured figures for any of them, and the site this one replaced was full of figures nobody could source.

The referrals page is the route in, our safeguarding policy sets out how concerns are handled, and if you would rather talk it through before sending anything, contact the team.