Tower Hamlets is not Home Office
01 May 1992
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets received a setback when the High Court ruled in April that it is not entitled to investigate the immigration status of homeless people or to refuse them accommodation if they don't appear to have unconditional permission to stay in Britain. The Council, which has been subject to a non-discrimination notice from the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) since 1987 for its allocation procedures, had taken the Department of the Environment to court over its housing guidelines. These required boroughs to find emergency accommodation for all priority cases, but the Council argued that this was unlawful, since some priority families' immigration status did not allow them to receive emergency accommodation. The High Court, rejecting the argument, said it was for the Home Office alone to take decisions on immigration status.
Independent 10.4.92.