Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s assessment of her housing application priority. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains that the Council failed to take her household’s medical conditions into account when it assessed her housing application. She says she has been on the waiting list since 2006 and was previously placed in hostels in 2016 and 2017.

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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, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered all the information which Ms X submitted with her complaint.

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What I found

4. Ms X says the Council failed to properly consider health conditions which she and her mother are suffering from in its banding of her application. She says she has recently started suffering from fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis since moving into her current home.
5. The Council undertook a medical assessment and told her she would receive the results in July 2019. She was not given the outcome of the assessment until October. However, the assessment concluded that the medical conditions did not warrant higher priority and that the current housing was adequate for their needs.
6. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. We do not investigate complaints just because the complainant feels they should be rehoused by a council. Unless there is fault in the assessment of the application, we cannot ask for the banding to be changed. We will not uphold a complaint if the council has followed proper procedures, relevant legislation and guidance and taken account of all the information provided.

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Final decision

7. Subject to any comments Ms X might make, my view is that the Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman