OIC to send woman home to Brighton
(From The Orcadian dated August 23, 2001)

Miss Ruth Taylor

A wheelchair-bound woman who sought refuge in Orkney from her “perilous” life in Brighton is to be evicted by the council and sent home.

Miss Ruth Taylor was brought to Orkney in June by her son to escape alleged family problems in a council house in Brighton, which it is claimed had reached a crisis point.

Miss Taylor, a 56-year-old former nurse, suffered a stroke three years ago and says she can’t bear to go back to the shared house.

Speaking this week, she told The Orcadian that family problems in Brighton were made worse by the fact that the house had no carpets or furniture except a bed.

Her son Matthew, who serves in the Army, took Miss Taylor to France and Holland before arriving in Orkney. He says he is currently facing a court martial after going AWOL when taking his mother away.

“Upon our arrival in Orkney I contacted the OIC and asked for help,” he said. “We were financially insolvent and homeless. The OIC reacted gallantly to our predicament providing shelter until a decision was made as to whether assistance would continue.”

That decision resolved that Miss Taylor had to return to Brighton because she had a council house and was therefore not officially homeless. This was upheld by an appeal held last week.

Credit was paid to the way the council had looked after her, but Miss Taylor said she couldn’t return to the house because conditions there were “inhuman.”

OIC assistant housing director Mr John Richards said he was sympathetic to the case, but after a thorough investigation – and with 400 people on the housing waiting list to cope with – he said the council had acted properly.

“Last year we had more than 150 homeless persons presented to us, many having children, many suffering situations of violence at home.

“We obviously have to investigate every case to establish the facts – we cannot have an open house to everyone. The investigation revealed the information we have been given does not stack up.”

The people on the council’s waiting list already faced a long wait, he said, and the council had to act within the law.

“We are sympathetic. If the home you were leaving was a death trap we would act, but our conclusion suggests there is a home which is perfectly safe for the applicant to occupy.

“I think we have been fair and we always endeavour to be fair and equitable. We have provided the temporary accommodation and in due course that temporary accommodation will be withdrawn and we do assist people to get home.”

That assistance, said Mr Richards, may involve Miss Taylor’s ferry, train or airfares being paid for.

“Whilst we are not without sympathy we simply have to establish the facts and in this case the facts established that there is a home to be occupied.”

He added: “For people simply to come to Orkney without any Orkney connections, unless they are fleeing domestic violence which can be substantiated, we have to return them home.”

Miss Taylor was represented at last week’s appeal by Geraldine Loughran, co-ordinator of Advocacy Orkney – a group which helps vulnerable people speak out.

She disagreed with the council’s position, explaining that a new clause had been added to the relevant Act.

It was no longer a case of deciding whether domestic violence on its own was an issue when deciding a homeless case, she said, but also whether a person’s situation was “unreasonable.”

“In deciding whether or not she was homeless, regard should have been made as to whether it was reasonable for her to return to any accommodation she might have,” she said.

“Reasonableness is a very broad concept, broader than whether there is a threat of violence and the reasonableness of making her return to this accommodation in Brighton has not been fully explored.”