London Borough of Redbridge (23 016 876)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Feb 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to remove Miss X from its housing register. This is because it relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago and it would have been reasonable for Miss X to bring this complaint to us at the time.
The complaint
- Miss X complained the Council removed her from its housing register and declined her appeal.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X complained to the Council about its decision to remove her from its housing register and deny her subsequent request for a review of the decision.
- The Council declined to investigate the complaint because it closed her application nearly 14 years ago and many of the Council employees involved with Miss X’s case no longer worked for the Council. Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman because she was unhappy with the Council’s response.
- The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate matters that took place more than 12 months prior to the complainant becoming aware of them unless there are good reasons to do so. In this case, the matters complained about took place many years ago and it would have been reasonable for Miss X to bring them to us sooner. The Council is unlikely to hold information regarding the complaint due to the length of time that has passed; exercising discretion to investigate this complaint would not be an appropriate use of resources.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago and it would have been reasonable for Miss X to bring this complaint to us at the time.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman