Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council assessed Mr X’s need for home adaptations. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement. The law says we cannot investigate his complaints about the Housing Association has maintained the property.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about how the Council assessed his need for adaptations to his property. He said the Occupational Therapist (OT) had made the wet room unsafe for him. He also said the kitchen was not suitable, there was rubbish outside his property and the street was unsafe. Mr X wants to move to a different area.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate complaints about actions which are not the administrative function of a council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(1) as amended).
5. 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X is a social housing tenant. He moved into his current property at the start of 2023. Before moving in, a Council Occupational Therapist (OT) visited the property with Mr X. They made recommendations to improve the accessibility of his bathroom. The OT shared those recommendations with the Housing Association responsible for Mr X’s tenancy.
9. The Council completed further OT visits throughout 2023 and 2024. They referred Mr X to the Community Physiotherapist and passed his concerns about the maintenance of his property onto the Housing Association. The OT also investigated the possibility of Mr X joining another area’s housing register; however he did not meet the eligibility criteria of that area.
10. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaints about the maintenance of his property, or that any adaptations have not been completed. This also includes his concerns about rubbish outside his property and the maintenance of his street. That is because the Housing Association is responsible for the adaptations to his property; it also owns the street where the property is located, which has not been adopted by the Council. We have no jurisdiction to investigate the actions of the Housing Association. That would be a complaint for the Housing Ombudsman Service.
11. We can investigate how the Council assessed Mr X’s needs. The Council’s complaint response indicates the Occupational Therapists made several visits to Mr X and explored different adaptations and ways to support him. Mr X accepted some of the Council’s recommendations but not others. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council assessed his needs to justify our involvement.
12. The Council told Mr X he was not eligible to join another council’s housing register as he did not have a local connection. The Council was sharing information so Mr X could make an informed choice about applying. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council has assessed his needs. The law says we cannot consider his complaints about how the Housing Association has completed any adaptations.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman