Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Mr Y’s housing register application and request for Discretionary Housing Payment. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains about the Council’s decision to refuse his Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) application. He wants the Council to award him DHP backdated to 2023. He also says the Council relied on inaccurate information to refuse his request for a two-bedroom property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr Y and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr Y applied for Discretionary Housing Payment in December 2023, and the Council refused this. The Council says Mr Y did not provide evidence to indicate financial need or reasons as to why a DHP would be applicable to his situation. Around the same time, Mr Y also applied to the Council for a two-bedroom property as he said this was required to meet his needs. Mr Y says the Council’s decision to refuse his request was based on a report which was inaccurately amended.
7. We expect a person to complain to us within 12 months of being aware of a matter and Mr Y did not raise his complaint with us until December 2025. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint because it is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now. Mr Y says the injustice he has suffered has been ongoing. But he knew about the Council’s decisions at the time and could have come to the Ombudsman sooner.
8. The more time passes between the events and a complaint, the more unlikely it is we can investigate them effectively, gather reliable evidence and reach a sound decision. In older cases we also may not be able to achieve a meaningful remedy because too many circumstances have changed. We are often unable to be able to show why events occurred or understand who was responsible.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because the complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman