Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit as there is a right of appeal to a tribunal and there is no evidence of fault by the Council causing significant injustice.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains that the Council unreasonably decided to recover an overpayment of housing benefit and delays reviewing her entitlement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (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)
4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The Council decided in December 2023 that there had been an overpayment of housing benefit to Ms X for a period when it became aware that she had been a student. The Council asked Ms X for evidence of her income during that time.
8. The Council suspended her housing benefit claim but has since made payments of housing benefit to her. In June 2024 the Council asked for further details of her student income to reassess her entitlement during that earlier period.
9. Ms X has a right of appeal to a tribunal to decide whether she was entitled to housing benefit for the period in question. The tribunal can also determine what housing benefit she should get and whether there was an overpayment and whether the Council was entitled to recover that overpayment. The tribunal is an independent body which can determine any dispute about such decisions. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case and so the complaint is out of jurisdiction.
10. Ms X asked for a Discretionary Hardship Payment in January 2024. The Council decided in May 2024 that her income exceeded her expenditure and her claim therefore did not satisfy the Council’s criteria. The Council accepts that there was a delay in making that decision which is says was caused by excessive workload.
11. As the decision was made to refuse the request I am not persuaded that any significant injustice was caused by the delay to warrant investigation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has a right of appeal to a tribunal and there is no evidence of fault causing significant injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman