• The complaint
• The Ombudsman’s role and powers
• How I considered this complaint
• My assessment
• Final decision

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Miss X when she had to leave her property. This is because there is no fault in the way the Council assessed her housing application. The Council was at fault when it failed to offer Miss X a homeless application but this has not caused her an injustice. The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about the way the Council manages social housing so we cannot investigate how it dealt with Miss X’s allegations that her neighbours were racially abusing her.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to move her family to alternative accommodation after they were racially abused by their neighbours. Miss X says the Council moved her neighbours but she was harassed and racially abused again by new neighbours in 2021 and the Council has not rehoused them.
2. Miss X says the Council’s actions have caused her and her family significant distress and they are now living between different friends.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
4. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
5. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

8. We cannot investigate how the Council helped Miss X when she was racially abused in 2011. Miss X did not raise this issue with the Ombudsman until November 2021 and so 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 Miss X to have complained to us about this issue sooner.
9. We are also unable to investigate how the Council dealt with Miss X’s current neighbours. This is because this is a complaint about the management of social housing and the law does not allow the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to investigate these matters. Miss X may complain to the Housing Ombudsman service who deal with these complaints.
10. We can consider complaints about how the Council manages applications for social housing and homelessness assistance.
11. There is no fault in how the Council has assessed Miss X’s housing application. The Council has placed Miss X’s housing application in Band 2 priority band due to the harassment she has suffered. This is the highest banding awarded to applicants suffering from harassment.
12. The Council failed to identify that Miss X may be homeless when she submitted her housing application. This is fault. However, the Council has since offered
    Miss X a homeless application which she has declined. Therefore, the fault by the Council has not caused Miss X an injustice. The Council has said it will make service improvements to ensure officers identify potentially homeless households when looking at housing applications.

Back to top

Final decision

13. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no fault in the way the Council assessed her housing application. The Council was at fault when it failed to offer Miss X a homeless application but this has not caused her an injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Print this page