Weather disruption
Winter weather is causing disruption to services in some parts of the county. Find out what services may be affected in your area.
Some public authorities have a duty to refer users of their service who they think may be homeless or threatened with becoming homeless to a local authority of the users choice.
The public authorities subject to the duty to refer (in England only) are:
- prisons
- young offender institutions
- secure training centres
- secure colleges
- youth offending teams
- probation services
- job centres in England
- social service authorities (both adult and children’s)
- emergency departments
- urgent treatment centres
- hospitals providing inpatient care
- The Secretary of State for Defence (members of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, regular Army and Royal Air Force
Make a referral
Before you refer someone, make sure they have:
- nowhere they can legally live, or
- that they are at risk of losing their home in the next eight weeks (56 days)
You must also make sure the person is happy for you to:
- refer them to us and not another council in England
- share their contact details with us
Email your completed referral to dutytorefer@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
You can also send us any background information about the person you are referring. Make sure you quote their name in the email subject.