Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate this housing benefit complaint because the complainant has appealed to a tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall refer to as Mrs X, complains about the Council’s decision to apply a spare room subsidy charge (bedroom tax) on her housing benefit claim.

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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. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered:

• the information provided by Mrs X with her complaint,
• the Council’s responses to our enquiries,
• Mrs X’s comments in response to my draft decision.

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What I found

5. In 2016 Mrs X’s adult son, Z, enlisted with the armed forces. Subsequently the Council decided to apply the bedroom tax in Mrs X’s case on the basis Z’s bedroom was unoccupied and therefore counted as a spare room in the property.
6. This decision meant the Council reduced the amount of Mrs X’s rent it counted in calculating her housing benefit (HB) entitlement by 14%. This resulted in Mrs X having to top up the shortfall in her rent from other income.
7. The Council’s current view is that the bedroom tax applies in Mrs X’s case as Z is not normally resident at her property. But that also means there is no non-dependent deduction from Mrs X’s HB, which would usually be the case if a non-dependent is part of the household. The Council said if it counted Z as normally resident with Mrs X, as she was claiming, the bedroom tax would not apply. But in that case a non-dependent deduction would be made from her HB, except for any periods when Z was on military operations.
8. Mrs X disputes the Council’s decision and disagrees with its interpretation of the HB rules and Government guidelines about claims where a family member is in the armed forces. She also said the Council is not following the practices of other local authorities in this respect. Mrs X’s view is that the bedroom tax should not apply and there should be no non-dependent deductions at all in her case.

Assessment

9. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s decision and complained to the Ombudsman. However, she has also used her right of appeal to the First Tier Tribunal about the decision.
10. But the law says we cannot investigate any matter that is already the subject of an appeal to a statutory tribunal. This means we cannot investigate whether the bedroom tax or any non-dependent deductions should be applied to Mrs X’s HB claim. The First Tier Tribunal will decide about Mrs X’s entitlement to HB.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint about a housing benefit claim. This is because Mrs X has appealed to a tribunal.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman