Pendle Council pays for teenage criminal to stay in Burnley hotel (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Pendle Council pays for teenage criminal to stay in Burnley hotel

8:40am Friday 3rd July 2009 in

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A ROW has broken out after a council paid for a teenage criminal to stay in a town centre hotel when he claimed to be homeless.

Officers at Pendle Council housed the 17-year-old in Burnley’s £30-a-night Keirby Park Hotel after he admitted to magistrates the theft of hair straighteners.

However, the court heard he was “estranged” from his mother and homeless - meaning council bosses have a legal ‘duty of care’ to accommodate him.

But when no suitable hostel could be found, the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was instead sent to stay in the Keirby, in Keirby Walk.

However, the “last resort” move by town hall bosses runs contrary to Government guidance and has been slammed by councillors and a campaign group.

Mohammed Iqbal, Labour group leader on Pendle Council, said: “Hopefully this is a one-off because it is clearly unacceptable for criminals to be housed in hotels.

“There are surely far cheaper bed and breakfasts which could have been used in Pendle.

“I would be very concerned if this was happening on a regular basis because there should be adequate homeless facilities for people like this.”

Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle added: “It is a shame that Pendle did not have their own facilities but unfortunately the law does not leave councils with an alternative but to house the homeless.

“The law may be an ass on this but we have to stick to it. However, I can understand why people would be upset about it.”

Matthew Elliot, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the case was a “sorry debacle” for Pendle Council.

He added: “It is wrong that this young man was housed in a hotel at considerable cost to taxpayers, instead of a homeless hostel, where he should have been.

“This young man will end up costing taxpayers a lot of money.

"The authorities have failed to deal with him in an efficient or cost-effective manner.”

Burnley Magistrates Court was told that the 17-year-old, who admitted to the theft of £117 hair straighteners, was already on a referral order.

After learning that he had been housed in the Keirby Hotel, district judge Peter Ward said: “How much does it cost the taxpayer to put him there?”

Mr Ward said the teenager still needed help and extended the order to nine months.

Mohammed Asjad, owner of the Keirby Hotel, said: “We have no real involvement with Pendle Council but from time to time they ask us to put someone up.

“They have never done anything wrong in the hotel so we don’t mind.”

However, according to official local authority guidance from the Department for Communities and Local Government, hotel accommodation is “unlikely to be suitable for 16 and 17 year olds who are in need of support”.

It is unclear how long the boy was housed in the hotel for or the cost to council taxpayers in East Lancashire.

Senior Pendle councillor Tony Greaves said: “I am surprised that we put anyone in a hotel because I thought we rarely did that.”

He vowed to “ask some questions” of the council’s housing officers.

Wayne Forrest, Pendle Council’s housing needs manager, said: “While hostel accommodation is always sought, it is not always available and as a last resort, bed and breakfast accommodation is used.

“The council aims to keep stays in this type of accommodation to a minimum by continuing to seek alternative accommodation for them.”

Other hotels in Burnley are more expensive than the Keirby.

Single rooms at the Premier Inn, in Queen Victoria Road, and at Travelodge, in Barracks Road, both cost £51 a night. Rooms at the Holiday Inn, in Pendle Way, are £49.