Summary: The Ombudsman should not pursue this complaint about Miss B’s housing benefit claim. This is because the complaint has been resolved.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained the Council did not deal properly with her housing benefit claim. She said as a result she was not receiving benefit and had rent arrears.

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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 further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Miss B provided. I obtained some information about Miss B’s housing benefit claim from the Council. I gave Miss B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. Miss B was receiving housing benefit. The Council cancelled her benefit. Miss B asked the Council to review that decision. When Miss B contacted us, the Council had not completed its review and Miss B had accrued rent arrears while she was not receiving benefit. Miss B was unhappy the Council had not decided the matter and that it seemed dissatisfied with further information she had provided.
6. Shortly after Miss B contacted us, but before we started considering her complaint, the Council’s review ended. The Council made a new decision in Miss B’s favour, reinstating and backdating her housing benefit. This cleared Miss B’s rent arrears and put her rent account in credit.
7. We understand Miss B was not evicted while she had rent arrears. I have no evidence of any continuing or unremedied injustice now the Council has paid Miss B’s benefit. After I sent Miss B this draft decision, she confirmed the housing benefit matter had been resolved in her favour.
8. If there had not been a review decision, we might investigate to see if there had been any undue delay by the Council and, if we found any fault, we might recommend the Council make a decision promptly. However, as the Council has made a decision and paid Miss B’s benefit, it seems unlikely an investigation by us would achieve anything meaningful. It therefore appears the matter has been resolved.
9. The Council told Miss B of her right to appeal to an independent tribunal if she disagrees with its review decision. The Council has also made a new decision about Miss B’s ongoing housing benefit entitlement. Again, Miss B has review and appeal rights regarding that decision. It would be reasonable to expect Miss B to appeal to the tribunal if she disagrees with the decisions about her benefit.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is resolved so there is nothing more we could achieve.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman