From 1 October 2018 under Section 213B of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018 certain public bodies have a duty to refer homeless customers to the Council. These public bodies are:
- Prisons
- Youth offender institutions
- Secure training centres
- Secure colleges
- Youth offender teams
- Probation
- Jobcentre Plus
- Social Service authorities
- A&E Departments
- Urgent treatment centres
- Hospitals providing inpatient care
Before making a referral a public body must ensure that they have obtained consent to make the referral from the individual, allowed the individual to identify what Council they want the referral sent to and obtained consent to share personal data with the Council.
PLEASE NOTE – Surrey Heath Borough Council does not cover the whole county of Surrey. There are 11 boroughs and districts that make up the county of Surrey. Please use the search function to check you are referring to the correct Council before submitting your duty to refer form. Referring to us by mistake will only delay options for the person you are working with.
If you work for one of these public bodies and become aware of a homeless person please obtain their consent for the referral to be made. We then ask that you complete the online referral detailing your contact details and the homeless person’s personal details (i.e. name, date of birth, contact email or telephone number) along with how they have become homeless and any other information we would need to know. We will then contact the homeless person and book an appointment for them to attend the Council Offices and explore their options.
You can make a referral by completing our online form.