Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in forwarding a housing benefit appeal request to the First Tier Tribunal. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to forward his appeal to the First Tier benefits Tribunal following his request that it do so in April 2023. He says his rent for his supported accommodation is in arrears and he is concerns about the failure to cover this by accepting he is eligible for housing benefit.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X applied for housing benefit in 2021 and was told by the Council that his claim was ineligible due to no confirmation form the landlord as to why they considered his supported accommodation to be exempt. The Council told him in March 2023 that its final decision was that his claim was ineligible because the landlord had not responded to its requests for information about the property since 2021.
6. The Council gave him 1 month to appeal the decision. Mr X appealed the decision in April 2023 but did not receive a response. He told the Council in his appeal letter that he wanted the landlord’s agent to act on his behalf over the appeal and that all communication should be with the agent/landlord.
7. The Council says that Mr X’s appeal is part of a collective appeal by the landlord covering 6 separate properties and several tenants in each. By May 2024 details of only three of the properties had been provided by the landlord and three remained outstanding. Because it is a collective appeal all applicants need to be included in the appeal to be considered by the same judge. The Council has included copies of correspondence to the agents/landlord to confirm this situation.
8. Because Mr X’s appeal is being handled by a third party who has not complained to us abut any delay we are unable to consider the matter further.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about delay in forwarding a housing benefit appeal request to the First Tier Tribunal. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman