Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council treated the complainant when he applied for a Discretionary Housing Payment. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the way the Council treated him when he applied for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP). He says the way the Council treated him affected his mental health.

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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 an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I also considered the correspondence between Mr X and the Council about the DHP. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

4. A DHP is a discretionary award of money to top up someone’s housing benefit or Universal Credit (housing costs). Councils can pay a DHP to someone in financial hardship. There is no automatic entitlement to a DHP and awards are usually time limited. A council might award a DHP, for a short period of time, to support someone while they try to move to cheaper accommodation.

What happened

5. Mr X applied for a DHP in March. The Council initially awarded a DHP, of £77 a week, for a couple of months. But, following a request from Mr X, it extended the award until October.
6. Mr X asked for clarification about how and when the payments would be made. Mr X felt the Council’s approach was unhelpful and provocative. Mr X sent emails and letters complaining about the Council’s processing of his claim. He says the Council ended a phone call.
7. In response the Council said it could have been clearer in the information it gave about when it would pay the DHP. But it did not uphold the other aspects of the complaint.

Assessment

8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Mr X says the Council treated him badly. However, the Council gave him a DHP award which it then extended. And, from the letters and emails I have seen, it responded promptly and appropriately to Mr X’s queries and complaints. I appreciate Mr X is unhappy with how the Council treated him, and says his mental health was affected, but I have not seen anything which requires an investigation from the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

9. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman