Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council (19 007 546)

Category : Housing > Allocations

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 18 Feb 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr C complains the Council did not deal properly with his housing application. The Council was not at fault.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr C, complains that the Council has not dealt properly with his housing application because:
  • it refused to accept medical evidence from him about his housing application when he took it to the Council’s customer service centre.
  • it failed to take into account his medical evidence when it made decisions about his housing band, which resulted in a failure to allocate him the correct housing band.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
  2. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have spoken to Mr C about his complaint and considered the information he has provided to the Ombudsman. I have also considered the Council’s response to his complaint and its response to my enquiries.
  2. I gave the Council and Mr C the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

What happened

  1. Mr C made an application for housing in January 2019. He said he suffered a range of medical problems including anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. He was placed in Band C as an under-occupier.
  2. The Council received further information about Mr C’s medical circumstances. The Council did not change Mr C’s housing band.
  3. Mr C took a written medical report to the Council offices in July. The Council changed his housing band to Band B.
  4. Mr C complained to the Council it had not taken proper account of his medical issues because he had already given the written report to the Council much earlier beforehand. The Council did not uphold his complaint and said it had not received the information in relation to his housing application before July.

Analysis

  1. The Council does not routinely keep records of attendance in person at its customer service centres unless further action is necessary. Records from the Council only show Mr C went to the Council in January 2019 and July 2019. Mr C says he went to the Council in person to hand in his written medical evidence.
  2. I have not been able to find any evidence that shows Mr C gave the written medical report to the Council to support his housing application before July 2019. There is insufficient evidence for me to draw any conclusions about fault by the Council.
  3. The Council considered Mr C’s housing application in February and placed him in Band C. Mr C was under-occupying his property and the Council did not have any supporting evidence about his medical circumstances.
  4. The Council received information about Mr C’s medical circumstances in May and July 2019. The Council assessed this evidence and decided it would not change Mr C’s housing band. The Council says the evidence it received did not show that Mr C’s housing was affecting his health. Mr C remained in Band C.
  5. When the Council received the copy of Mr C’s written medical report in July 2019, it re-assessed his housing band. The Council also took into account problems between Mr C and his neighbours when it made its decision. It said this along with the additional medical evidence justified a higher band. The Council changed Mr C’s housing band to Band B.
  6. The Council acted in accordance with its allocations policy when it considered Mr C’s housing band and medical evidence. This is not fault by the Council.

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Final decision

  1. I have not found fault by the Council in how it dealt with Mr C’s housing application. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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