Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the so-called ‘bedroom tax’ because the complainant can use her review and appeal rights.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, disagrees with the Council’s decision to apply the ‘bedroom tax’ reduction to her housing benefit. Mrs X wants the Council to remove the charge and refund the payments she has made.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
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)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The rules say a council must reduce someone’s housing benefit if they live in a property which is too large for their needs. There are some exceptions. For example, an extra bedroom is allowed if someone receives certain benefits and needs a carer to regularly stay overnight.
7. If someone disagrees with a council’s decision to impose a reduction for the bedroom tax they can appeal to the tribunal.
8. The Council applied a deduction to Mrs X’s housing benefit for the bedroom tax. Mrs X says this is wrong because she and her husband are disabled and they need separate bedrooms. She says the Council should never have applied the reduction.
9. I will not investigate this complaint because it is a dispute for the tribunal. Each housing benefit decision letter notified Mrs X of her appeal rights. It is reasonable to expect Mrs X to have appealed because the tribunal is the appropriate body to decide if the bedroom tax applies. The tribunal is free to use.
10. As a first step towards this the Council will review Mrs X’s housing benefit claim. If the Council remains of the view that the bedroom tax reduction is correct then Mrs X can appeal to the tribunal. We do not make housing benefit decisions and have no power to tell the Council to remove the charge.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because Mrs X can appeal to the tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman