London Borough of Brent (20 009 273)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Jan 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s decision to recover an overpayment of housing benefit. We will not investigate this complaint because she appealed to a tribunal.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about the Council’s decision to recover an overpayment of housing benefit.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant was given an opportunity to comment on the draft decision.
What I found
- Ms X was told by the Council that there had been an overpayment of housing benefit and she had to repay this sum. She appealed to the Council and the Council passed the appeal to the tribunal in November 2020.
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate a complaint which has been appealed to a tribunal for the reason given above.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because the matter has been appealed to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman