Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to stop her housing benefit and delay submitting her appeal to the tribunal. This is because following our involvement, the Council has revised its decision and reinstated her housing benefit. It has backdated the decision and agreed to pay her the arrears. There is nothing further we could achieve.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council stopped her housing benefit without good reason. She said she appealed the decision in April 2023 but the Council was refusing to pass her decision to the tribunal.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• any outstanding injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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 considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Following our involvement, the Council has revised its decision and reinstated Ms X’s housing benefit. It has written to her and told her it has reinstated her housing benefit claim from May 2022, when it was stopped. It said any payment arrears from February 2023 will be paid into her bank account and she will no longer have to repay housing benefit paid to her between May 2022 to February 2023.
7. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has revised its decision, reinstated her benefit and backdated payments to the date it was stopped. This is what Ms X wanted. There is nothing more we could achieve, and any outstanding injustice is insufficient to warrant further investigation.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is nothing more we could achieve and any outstanding injustice is insufficient to warrant further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman