Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the information the Council provided to him and how staff spoke to him. This is because an investigation would not lead to any further or worthwhile outcomes.

The complaint

1. Mr X had an issue with his housing benefit. He complains about the information the Council provided to him and how staff spoke to him when he contacted it to discuss the issues.

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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 an investigation if we decide:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered 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 received a letter from the Council telling him he had been overpaid housing benefit by the Council. Mr X contacted the Council to ask for more details about this as he did not understand the Council’s letter.
6. Mr X said he was told by the Council to visit its office so an explanation could be given. However, when Mr X attended the office, he was told officers could not help him.
7. An officer later contacted Mr X to explain why he had been overpaid housing benefit and a payment plan was set up for him to pay £100 a month to clear the debt. Mr X said this arrangement was fine until he received a letter stating he had failed to make a payment. Mr X was unhappy and raised a complaint.
8. In response to Mr X’s complaint, the Council explained no housing benefit officers worked at the Council’s office and that an appointment service was ran instead. The Council apologised that Mr X was not given this information when he called.
9. The Council also confirmed that Mr X had since met with a manager who has explained why the overpayments occurred and why the letters were sent that suggested the payment plan had defaulted. The Council confirmed the payment plan had been reset.
10. An investigation is not justified as there are not worthwhile outcomes. The Council has apologised for failing to tell Mr X that meetings with housing benefit officers worked on an appointment basis. An investigation would not lead to any further recommendations.
11. Further, the Council noted that the complaint officer did not consider he had been rude to Mr X during their phone call but recognised that Mr X may have considered him to be abrupt due to asking several times how the Council could resolve the matter. The officer apologised if this was the case. This was appropriate and so an investigation is not warranted as it would not lead to any further outcomes.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would not lead to any further or worthwhile outcomes.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman