Summary: Mrs B complains about extra charges she has to pay for her Council-rented accommodation. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mrs B, says she is being unfairly charged by the Council for services she does not use as a tenant of a flat which is part of a retirement complex providing extra care housing. She says the additional charge was not made clear to her when the tenancy started in 2017 and some residents do not pay the charge.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. In considering the complaint I spoke to Mrs B and reviewed the information she provided. I gave Mrs B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. In 2017 Mrs B and her late husband, Mr B, moved into a flat in an extra care housing scheme because of Mr B’s assessed needs.
6. A month after moving in, Mrs B became aware that she and Mr B were liable for a charge to cover careline services. Since this time Mrs B has complained about this additional charge which she says was not made clear to her and Mr B at the time they signed the tenancy and that not all residents of the complex pay the charge.
7. The Council explained to Mrs B that while she lives in her flat she is liable for the service costs for which she signed at the beginning of the tenancy and that this is the case whether she uses the service or not.
8. It further explained that people who were already living in the flats before 2013, when the accommodation was changed to extra care housing, were not asked to leave but that all new tenants who moved in after the change were liable for the extra care costs.

Assessment

9. While I understand Mrs B has not used the additional services provided with her accommodation, this is not the basis on which the charge is made.
10. Mrs B says the charge was not made clear to her back in 2017 but, as highlighted at paragraph 3, it is too late for the Ombudsman to investigate what she was told over two years ago and there are no grounds which warrant exercising discretion to do so.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman