Asylum at HomeFront (part 1)

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Back to reality

“Back to reality then” mused Ben, Director of HomeFront as he carefully propped up a picture of two week old Buster against his laptop. He wondered what was happening at home and how Christa was coping. “Two weeks’ paternity leave just isn’t enough but it’s long enough to feel out of the loop” he muttered to himself.  Grabbing a coffee, he leaned back in his chair and opened a letter, vaguely noticing that it was from a solicitor. 

Scanning the contents, Ben sat up, breathing hard and picked up the phone. “Trish, can you come in. Now please,” he said trying to sound controlled.   

Allocations, Allocations, Allocations

“What happened at the Allocations meeting Trish? How did they reject that homeless couple – and them with a new kid! They had more than enough points to qualify for the flat.”  

Trish, HomeFront's Housing Manager sat down heavily. “I know, I know. I was going to tell you but I didn’t want to worry you while you were away.” Ben looked at Trish who was close to tears and tried to calm down, resisting the urge to shout at her. “So what happened?”

“Hugh! I know it was his first meeting as chair… and it was fine to start with. They allocated the short-life house to those mature students – you know, like we’d discussed. Then the application for the flat came up.  It was ok until someone noticed that the couple were asylum seekers. Hugh started asking questions about their status in this country – why were they here, what were they doing in this country, did they have the right to claim benefits or use the health service. You know, questions like that. Hugh's a very persuasive personality and soon someone muttered 'bogus', and the majority of the committee were agreeing with him.”

Trish shook her head and sighed. “Lorna really tried to calm things down and reminded them that they’d been living at the hostel for some months with no problems whatsoever. AND you know they’ve just had a baby.  Honestly, you read about these views in the tabloids – but I never thought I’d hear them at our meetings.  Don’t they have any idea about what’s going on in Afghanistan?”

“So who got the flat then?” asked Ben.

“That gay couple, who’d also been at the hostel. But they've been there only half as long as Fahran and Gulnaz. It’s just not fair.”

“Well, someone agrees with you. We’ve just got a letter from a solicitor from Biggs & Boff – you know that ‘no win no fee’ lot - warning us that they’re considering “bringing legal action on the grounds of racial and religious discrimination and to report us to the Tenant Services Authority”. Can you get me all the paperwork? I need to see how we've documented this. Thanks. I’d best get hold of Hugh …..”

Deadline

“Great first day back!” thought Ben as he tried to contact Hugh.   According to his wife, Hugh was out playing golf and would not be contactable until late that evening as he had a members’ club meeting. In the meantime, re-reading the letter from the solicitor more carefully, Ben noticed that the deadline for a response was tomorrow. To cap it all, Trish had earlier fielded a call from a terrier-like reporter from the Millcaster Mercury who was asking to see Ben “as a matter of urgency…”. 

Have your say

• What should Ben have done to ensure that Hugh acted in accordance with HomeFront's housing policy?
• How should Ben deal with the press?
• Do you work in a housing charity and have been in a similar situation?
  

Have your say on the Millcaster Tales Forum.

Useful links

• Work and families employment rights (DirectGov)
• About homelessness (Shelter)
• Tenant Services Authority
  

Other episodes

Catch up with past episodes of Millcaster Tales.

Part two of this story will be published on Monday 19 October.