Summary: Mr X complains that he received no support for claiming benefits from the Council after he left prison. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that he received no support for claiming benefits from the Council after he left prison.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered the complainant's comments and the Council's comments and Mr X has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X says that he received no help from the Council following his release from prison. He is unhappy with his claim for Universal Credit and the decision on his Personal Income Payment (PIP).
5. Decisions about Universal credit and PIPs are made by the Department for Work and Pensions and so are out of our jurisdiction.
6. The Council says that it advised him to seek benefit advice from the Citizen's Advice Bureau and its own Welfare Rights Officers. Such action would not be fault by the Council as it would be reasonable for the Council to point Mr X towards expert independent advice on such matters.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman