Summary: Mrs X complains about the Council’s decision to stop its welfare rights service assisting with appeals. There is no evidence of fault in the process leading to the decision. While Mrs X disagrees with the decision, she has not been directly disadvantaged as she was offered a referral but she chose to deal with her appeal herself.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s decision to stop its welfare rights service assisting with appeals. She says the decision will disadvantage many people.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• discussed the issues with the complainant;
• sent my draft decision to both the Council and the complainant and invited their comments.

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What I found

5. Mrs X was assisted by the Council’s welfare rights service in respect of council tax issues. Mrs X believed the service would represent her throughout her case. However, in June 2019 she was told it was unable to assist her with an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and it would have to refer her to another service.
6. Mrs X was unhappy with this decision. She was happy with the assistance offered by the welfare rights service and did not want to change to a new adviser. She made a complaint to the Council about its decision.
7. The Council explained it had reviewed its provision of welfare advice. It decided there was a conflict of interest when its in-house advice service represented service users at tribunals against decisions the Council had made. It therefore decided the in-house advice team would not represent people at housing benefit and council tax support appeals. Instead it would contract with an independent advice provider and make referrals so it could represent people at the appeal stage.
8. Mrs X had been given written advice explaining the welfare rights service may not be able to represent her throughout her whole case.

Analysis

9. Mrs X has chosen to proceed with her own appeal. She was offered a referral to another advice service but chose not to use it. This is a decision Mrs X is entitled to take. I am not persuaded there is any fault in how the Council dealt with Mrs X.
10. Mrs X is making a general complaint about the change to the service offered by the in-house welfare rights team. She feels this change will disadvantage people less able than herself and feels the decision should be reversed.
11. The Council has provided information which shows how it considered this change. This was a detailed process that included consultation with providers and service users. The Council prepared a report giving different options regarding the future provision of welfare advice. The decision was taken in December 2017 by the Assistant City Mayor for Neighbourhood Services.
12. Mrs X is not claiming any fault in how the decision was made to change welfare rights provisions. She is complaining about the decision made. It is not the Ombudsman’s role to replace decisions properly made even if people disagree with them. The Council has properly considered the different options for welfare rights provision and has decided to limit what the in-house service can do. There is no basis for the Ombudsman to criticise the decision made.

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Final decision

13. I will now complete my investigation as there is no evidence of fault in the service provided to Mrs X or in the decision to stop the welfare rights service providing representation for housing benefit or council tax support appeals.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman