FAMILIES of children with additional needs attending Mountjoy School, Beaminster have been placed in Weymouth bed and breakfast accommodation by Dorset Council – adding to their difficulties.

The claim comes from Beaminster councillor Craig Monks.

He told Dorset Council’s Cabinet meeting that the move had been “distressing” for the families, resulting in “difficulties such as disrupted education, long and costly school commutes, and additional financial strain.”

The Conservative councillor called on the authority to do more for families who attend the school for their specific educational needs.

“Many families across the Council area face similar challenges but families who attend schools like Mountjoy face more extreme challenges including financial constraints due to higher care needs.

“What measures could Dorset Council take to ensure that families with special needs, who are deemed homeless, can access suitable housing that meets their specific needs, even if this requires flexibility in housing policy?” he asked.

Cabinet portfolio holder for health and housing, Chickerell councillor Gill Taylor, said the council would always seek the most supportive option for families, but had its hands tied by a shortage of suitable homes, or suitable homes in the places they were needed.

“If I had 1,000 houses today it would not solve the issue but that is the sort of numbers we need today. They are just not there,” she said, adding that the council currently has 6,500 households on its housing waiting list and has twenty households currently in bed and breakfast because there are no other options available.

“Transforming and ramping up the delivery of affordable homes across the Dorset Council area is at the centre of this council’s priorities and we have formulated plans and actions, at pace, adding to what we already do well. We are doing more to close those gaps,” she said… “We have a delivery plan to improve the situation – these priorities including supporting families which have children in school, including Mountjoy.”

She said that the council was also constrained, not only by the availability of homes, most of which are offered by housing associations, but also by an allocations policy which ‘ranks’ need, together with policies which seek to prevent homelessness and to offer accommodation to those who find themselves homeless.