Agenda item

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services in respect of a protocol following the accidental deaths of two children in their homes in Hackney.  Members noted that the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) requested that relevant housing protocols be reviewed, to ensure that sufficient regard is given to a household’s circumstances when a traumatic child death occurs, specifically the mental health impact on the family in remaining in the home where the death took place.

Members noted that the City Corporation’s Housing Allocations Scheme already gives officers a wide discretion to assist families in traumatic circumstances through the ‘Management Transfer’ route.  However, the scheme has now been amended to explicitly state that families suffering a child bereavement will be eligible for Management Transfer;  the highest category of priority on the housing register.

RESOLVED, that – the report be noted.