Rother District Council

Out of Hours Contact Number: 01893 648467 / 01424 787868

The Council operates an out-of-office-hours emergency standby service which enables customers to seek advice and assistance regarding various matters, including housing and homelessness.

The out-of-office-hours emergency telephone number is 01424 787868 and is staffed by designated Duty Officers on a rota basis

The Standby Procedure is as follows:

1. Housing Standby Officer receives call from Council Duty Officer, via either home telephone number or Standby Pager. The Council Duty Officer will provide details of the name, address and telephone number of the customer and the nature of their problem.
   
   
2. Housing Standby Officer rings the customer to ascertain the customers circumstances.
   
   
3. If the customer is homeless and has a priority need then the Council has an immediate legal duty to provide interim accommodation. In most cases this will be B&B accommodation.
   
   
4. Priority Need is determined on whether the applicant, or someone in their household is:

• Pregnant
  
  
• With a dependent child (up to 16, or 18 and in full time education
  
  
• Of pension age (60)
  
  
• Severe ill health
  
  
• Other special reason, eg. young person under the age of 18 who may be vulnerable under the Children Act (eg. a young person estranged from parents)
  
  
• Anyone fleeing violence/racial harassment
  
  
• Anyone following an emergency (fire, flood etc)

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