Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s administration of its Household Support Fund. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting Mr X and it is unlikely investigation would achieve any worthwhile outcome for him.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s Household Support Fund schemes which aimed to help vulnerable households facing financial hardship to pay for daily expenses such as food, clothing and utilities. He says the Council did not pay enough money to members of the public and misspent the remaining funds available from central government.

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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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr X did not apply to the scheme and does not complain about any decision on eligibility which directly affects him. His concerns are more wide-ranging and relate to the Council’s administration of the scheme generally.
5. But it is not our role to audit the Council’s expenditure under the scheme or to say the Council must make more money available. There is also not enough evidence of fault relating to any particular decision which directly affected Mr X so we could not say the Council must award Mr X money or vouchers under the scheme. The Council has made Mr X aware of another scheme he could apply to and in the event it offers further funding under the Household Support Fund Mr X may apply for this subject to availability and criteria.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting Mr X and it is unlikely we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman