Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a failure by the Council to act on the complainant giving it notice that she wished to move from her supported living accommodation. This is because the Council has accepted it was at fault and provided a suitable remedy to the complainant which addresses the injustice caused. Further investigation would therefore unlikely lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant (Ms X) complains on behalf of Miss Q. Ms X says the Council failed to enact a request from Miss Q to give notice of her decision to leave her supported accommodation. Ms X says this resulted in Miss Q being chased for outstanding rent arrears despite no longer living in the accommodation.
2. In summary, Ms X says the alledged fault caused Miss Q serious distress and upset, as well being chased for debts. As a desired outcome, Miss Q wants the Council to take responsibility for the debt amount.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement or, we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council has fully acknowledged it was at fault with respect to the issues raised by Ms X and Miss Q. The Council says there is clear evidence that Miss Q gave notice about wanting to leave her supported living accommodation and explains there appears to have been a misunderstanding of communication between the accommodation provider and its adult social care team. The Council has agreed to take responsibility for the amount in question and has confirmed Miss Q has nothing to pay. I note there was further fault by the Council with respect to calculating this amount, though understand this issue has since been resolved. I also note from the communication between the Council and Ms X that Miss Q is happy with the resolution. Though there has been fault, the Council has remedied the injustice caused to Miss Q and further investigation would unlikely lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate this complaint as the restriction I outline at paragraph three (above) applies.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman