Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (21 010 192)
Category : Adult care services > Disabled facilities grants
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Disabled Facilities Grant. The Council has offered a solution and an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
- Mr X said the Council paid a contractor with Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) before the work was complete and did not inspect the work. He said his home is not safe as a result of the incomplete works.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates 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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X had works done to his property to adapt it for his disabled wife. Mr X complained the Council paid the contractors before inspecting whether the work was complete. He said the work is incomplete leaving his property unsafe.
- The Council initially told Mr X to complain directly to the contractors as he was a private tenant. Mr X asked the Council to respond to his complaint because it paid the DFG money to the contractors without inspecting the work.
- During my consideration of Mr X’s complaint, the Council agreed to visit Mr X’s property to investigate and to resolve the issues.
- We will not investigate this complaint as we would be unlikely to reach a different outcome.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has agreed to inspect the incomplete work in order to reach a solution. An investigation would be unlikely to achieve a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman