Summary: We will not investigate Ms Z’s complaint about the Council’s failure to let her apply for a two-bedroom property. This is because there is no evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Ms Z says the Council has refused to allocate her a two bedroomed property despite providing medical evidence to show her need for this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))
3. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the Ms Z and the Council, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms Z says her mental health needs mean she needs a two-bedroom property as she needs someone to stay with her overnight. The medical report Ms Z provided says there are times when she would benefit from family support, and ‘from time to time’ to have someone stay overnight.
6. The Council’s allocations policy says a single person can normally only be allocated one bedroom. In this instance, the Council said it would not allocate her a two bedroomed property as she does not have a live-in carer. I recognise Ms Z might disagree with the Council’s decision, but it has considered having someone to stay overnight ‘from time to time’ is not enough to justify a departure from its policy. We cannot question the Council’s decision without evidence of fault in the way it made it.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part as it considered Ms Z’s medical circumstances.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman