Page values for "London Borough of Lewisham (20 006 910) (2021) MHLO 5"

London Borough of Lewisham (20 006 910) [2021] MHLO 5

Section 117 and Housing Benefit

The council, CCG and trust initially reneged on a promise to update their s117 policy, but eventually changed it to state: "If accommodation is included as part of after-care, it should not be charged for, nor should person be told to claim Housing Benefit. Service and utility charges should be deemed part of the s117 accommodation." Ombudsman's summary: "The Ombudsmen investigated and upheld an earlier complaint about charging for accommodation which should have been free under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983. We have now investigated a complaint about the [London Borough of Lewisham], [South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust] and [NHS South East London CCG] failing to carry out actions agreed during the earlier investigation. We have upheld the complaint. We have also found that an estimated 57 other patients may not have up-to-date section 117 aftercare plans. The organisations accept our recommendations, so we have completed our investigation."