Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to take Miss X’s daughter’s lunch fees into account when calculating her housing benefit. This is because the Council has provided a suitable remedy to recognise the injustice caused by the delays.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has failed to take her daughters lunch childcare fees into account when calculating her housing benefit. She said the Council is slow at recalculating her housing benefit entitlement each month. She said because of this, she is in rent arrears.
2. Miss X said this has caused her significant distress. She wants the Council to move her to permanent accommodation, apologise and make improvements to calculate her housing benefit properly.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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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. In September 2025, Miss X provided the Council with multiple emails detailing childcare costs. This included lunch costs and breakfast and afternoon club.
7. Miss X complained later in the month. She said her housing benefit had been recalculated three times. She said she was now in over £800 worth of debt.
8. The Council said an overpayment had been created due to an error. It agreed this would not be recovered from Miss X. It recalculated the housing benefit amount, taking into account the breakfast and afternoon club costs.
9. Miss X escalated the complaint. She said the Council had not taken her other childcare invoices into account. She also said she had to pay for pickups and drop offs at the childminders. But the Council said in line with guidance, it could not consider these costs as the childminder was not registered. Miss X made a further complaint and sent further invoices for lunch costs.
10. In January 2026, the Council reassessed Miss X’s housing benefit claim. This included lunch costs and breakfast and afterschool club. This amounted to an underpayment of £101.50 between September 2025 and January 2026. Part of this was used to cover some of a housing benefit overpayment which the Council said was due to an increase in Miss X’s wages in December 2025.
11. The Council made a previous overpayment of £793 fully recoverable in error. The Council said this had been corrected and was no longer recoverable.
12. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find the Council at fault as Miss X sent multiple emails in September 2025 detailing the lunch invoices. The Council did not respond to this part of Miss X’s request until she asked for a further review in November 2025, which we would likely decide caused her distress.
13. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice to Miss X by apologising and remind staff to respond to requests in a timely manner. The Council agreed to do so and has provided us with evidence it has. I am satisfied the Council has therefore taken suitable action to remedy and injustice we would likely find was caused by fault if we investigated this complaint.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the Council has provided a suitable remedy which is in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman