Page 30 - Solving Housing Disputes

active inquiries as to a participant’s capabilities. We propose that adjustments
would include the use of an interpreter, communication intermediary, a
support person akin to the Personal Support Unit, or a support person
proposed by the participant (for example their carer). Where vulnerability is
identified, the HDS should facilitate advice through the panel lawyer at each
stage.

2.27 With respect to situational vulnerability, the approach, conduct and location
of dispute resolution can do much to ameliorate the situational specific
stresses and anxieties that impede a person’s capacity to participate in a
judicial process. In the first instance, we recommend that HDS officers have
specific training on adducing information from and assisting vulnerable
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people.
Amalgamating pre-existing schemes

2.28 We propose that the HDS operate as a first-tier, rather than pre-action, stage
for housing disputes. Pitching the HDS at a pre-action stage would mean the
level of skills and staffing provided would be subordinate to that of the courts
and tribunals. It must be perceived as an effective first-tier of dispute
resolution, at a level of equivalence and standing to the County Court (DJ)
and FTT (PC). It must be sufficiently resourced to become a high quality,
holistic problem-solving service.

2.29 As described in Chapter 4, there has long been a desire for a single forum to
hear all housing disputes, rather than the division between court and tribunals,
and splintering across various redress schemes. We think the HDS could be
that body and sit alongside a reformed court and tribunal hierarchy, to
establish a single point of call for people with a housing problem. Should the

66 Schemes already in operation include the Advocacy and Vulnerable Training Programme: see The
Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA) website, https://www.icca.ac.uk/advocacy-the-vulnerable. A
further option is specific training through the Judicial College. A recent Civil Justice Council consultation
on vulnerability recommended that the Judicial College should consider enhancing the training of civil
judges, both salaried and fee-paid, to cover, in greater depth than at present, three core elements relating
to vulnerability: Civil Justice Council, ‘Vulnerable witnesses and parties within civil proceedings: current
position and recommendations for change’ (August 2019) para 204, available at
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Vulnerable-witnesses-and-parties-consultation-
September-2019.pdf We acknowledge that there are better and more informed approaches which could
be adopted from elsewhere in social services, and that psychological and mental health services, for
instance, are likely to offer best practice templates for communication with vulnerable people.

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