Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the suitability of accommodation the Council offered him in 2018. This is because it is a late complaint. We are also unable to investigate how the Council has responded to his complaints about repair issues in the property as it is located in another council area.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council placed in in unsuitable accommodation in 2018. He says the Council’s environmental health department is refusing to come and inspect his accommodation.
2. Mr X says the property is in a poor state of repair which is causing him and his family significant distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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)
4. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council helped Mr X find his current accommodation in 2018 when he was homeless. Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman until 2021. Therefore, this is a late complaint. We have discretion to set aside this restriction where we decide there are good reasons. In this case I have decided not to exercise discretion because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us about the suitability of the accommodation sooner.
8. Mr X’s current accommodation is located in a different council area. The Council has advised him to contact the council area where the accommodation is located about repair issues in the property. The Council is only responsible for monitoring housing conditions in its area and so there is no evidence of fault in the way it responded to Mr X’s concerns and so we should not investigate his complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is a late complaint and there is no reason why he could not have come to the Ombudsman sooner. We are also unable to investigate his complaint about the actions of the Council’s environmental services because the accommodation is located in another council area.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman