Summary: The Council delayed carrying out a review of Miss B’s housing priority, and delayed dealing with her complaints. It also failed to properly deal with her request for her homelessness application to be referred to another council. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Miss B and to take action to prevent similar failings.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains that the Council:
• Failed to carry out a review of her housing priority.
• Wrongly closed her housing application.
• Took too long to process her new housing application.
• Did not refer her homelessness case to another council after it agreed to do so.
• Failed to properly investigate her complaint about her homelessness case officer’s inappropriate behaviour.
2. Miss B says that as a result of the Council’s failings, she remains living in unsuitable accommodation. She says that the Council’s failings have also caused her distress and put her to avoidable time and trouble.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• discussed the issues with the complainant;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council has provided; and
• given the Council and the complainant the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

Back to top

What I found

The relief duty

7. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)

The main housing duty

8. If a council is satisfied someone is eligible, homeless, in priority need and unintentionally homeless, it will owe them the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
9. Under the main housing duty, housing authorities must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for the applicant and their household until the duty is brought to an end, usually through the offer of a settled home. (Homelessness Code of Guidance 17)

Housing allocations

10. The Council’s housing allocations scheme sets out the rules for qualifying to join the Housing Register, how applicants are prioritised and how the Council manages the allocation of available properties.
11. The Council places applicants who qualify to join the housing register in a priority band from Band 1 (highest priority) to Band 4 (lowest priority). This priority is the first factor the Council uses to allocate a property.
12. The Council awards Band 2 where:
• the applicant is homeless and owed the main duty because they have been assessed as being in priority need and unintentionally homeless.
• the applicant’s medical or disability needs mean their housing is unsuitable. This includes applicants who are not housebound or whose life is not at risk, but whose current housing is directly impacting their health.

Background and summary of key events

13. Miss B made a homelessness application to the Council in November 2020. She said that she had been living with a friend since February 2020, but she could only stay there for a short period. The Council accepted the homeless relief duty to Miss B.
14. Miss B then submitted an application to join the Council’s housing register. The Council accepted Miss B’s application and awarded Band 2 due to homelessness and medical needs. It decided she needed a one-bedroom property.
15. On 30 April 2021, Miss B requested a review of the Council’s decision to award Band 2. She also said that she needed an additional bedroom for medical reasons. Miss B provided supporting medical evidence in May and June and submitted a change of circumstances form on 13 June.
16. The Council accepted the main housing duty to Miss B in June 2021.
17. Miss B complained to the Council in August and September that the Council had not yet carried out a review of its decision that she should be awarded Band 2 with a one-bedroom need. Miss B also complained that her homelessness case officer had acted inappropriately towards her and had failed to deal with her request for her homelessness application to be referred to a neighbouring council.
18. The Council assessed Miss B’s change of circumstances form in October. It decided again that Miss B should be awarded Band 2 with a one-bedroom need.
19. The Council responded to Miss B’s complaint in November. It said that Miss B’s complaint about the officer’s inappropriate behaviour had been sent to his manager and would be investigated. It also provided details of the criteria for a Band 1 medical award and explained that it could not grant this award because Miss B’s accommodation was not putting her life at risk.
20. Miss B complained to the Council again on 15 November. She said that the Council had not responded to her complaint about her request for her homelessness case to be referred to another council and had not responded to her requests for a new case officer. Miss B also explained why she believed she should be awarded Band 1. She said that her life was at risk and she was also housebound.
21. In the Council’s response, it explained that Miss B had already been awarded Band 2 for homelessness and medical needs, and that the supporting documents she provided were very unlikely to make any difference to the banding decision.
22. In February 2022, the Council responded to Miss B’s complaint about the officer’s inappropriate behaviour. It said that the officer had been spoken to and had denied Miss B’s allegations. It also explained that the officer had not made the referral to the neighbouring council because Miss B had not given consent for her personal information to be shared. The Council also advised Miss B that it had allocated another officer to her case.
23. The Council commenced the review of its housing priority decision in February 2022. After noticing some discrepancies in the information provided, it referred Miss B’s case to its audit team. Following a request from the audit team, Miss B provided evidence about her living situation. As the information provided showed that Miss B was living with a friend, and she had not included the friend on her application form, it asked Miss B to submit a fresh application.
24. The Council assessed Miss B’s application on 28 April 2022. It decided again that Miss B should be awarded Band 2 with a one-bedroom need.

Analysis

25. Miss B requested a review of the Council’s housing priority decision on 30 April 2021, and she submitted a change of circumstances form on 13 June 2021. The Council assessed the change of circumstances form 19 weeks later, on 25 October 2021, and it commenced the review 39 weeks after Miss B’s request, on 1 February 2022. We consider councils should carry out reviews and assessments within four to six weeks. The Council’s delays here were fault.
26. Miss B’s application was suspended from 9 March 2022, when she was asked to complete a new application, until 28 April 2022 when the Council assessed Miss B’s new application. I do not consider it was wrong for the Council to suspend Miss B’s application while it sought accurate information about her living situation. Once Miss B submitted the new application, the Council assessed it promptly and activated her account. I have found no evidence of fault by the Council here.
27. Each time the Council has assessed Miss B’s application, it has decided she should be awarded Band 2 with a one-bedroom need. I have considered the Council’s Allocation Scheme and the supporting evidence Miss B has submitted to the Council and have found no evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision.
28. The Council says it did not refer Miss B’s homelessness application to the neighbouring council because Miss B did not give permission for her personal information to be shared.
29. There is nothing in the Council’s records to show that it considered Miss B’s request, that it asked for her consent to share personal information, or that it informed Miss B that it could not make the referral without her consent. This was fault.
30. Miss B made formal complaints to the Council in August and September 2021. The Council responded on 10 November 2021, 57 working days after Miss B’s initial complaint. The Council’s complaints procedure states that it will respond to stage one complaints within 15 working days. The Council’s delay here was fault.
31. Miss B escalated her complaint on 15 November 2021. She asked the Council to clarify whether the referral to the neighbouring council had been made and she complained that the Council had not responded to her requests for a new case officer. The Council responded to Miss B’s complaint about the delay carrying out the review on 3 December 2021. But it did not respond to Miss B’s complaints about the officer’s behaviour or the referral until 10 February 2022, 60 working days after Miss B complained. The Council’s complaints procedure states that it will respond to stage two complaints within 20 working days. The Council’s delay here was fault.
32. As a result of the delay, Miss B was not assigned a new case officer until February 2022. She also did not find out until February 2022 that the Council had not referred her homelessness case to the neighbouring council. While this will have caused Miss B frustration, it is unlikely that the referral would have been accepted, and so I do not consider Miss B was disadvantaged by this.
33. The Council has confirmed that a manager has spoken to the case officer at length about Miss B’s allegation that he behaved inappropriately towards her. The manager was satisfied with the officer’s account and decided to take no further action. I have found no evidence of fault in the way this decision was reached.
34. I consider the Council’s failings in this case have caused Miss B frustration, distress and put her to avoidable time and trouble.

Back to top

Agreed action

35. Within four weeks, the Council will make a payment of £250 to Miss B to recognise her distress and the time and trouble she has been put to as a result of the failings identified.
36. Earlier this year, the Council told us that an additional Complaints Team has been set up and that it now has dedicated resources available to handle and oversee complaints. It said that in the new set up, one system is used to record and track all complaints in order to reduce delays. The Council has agreed to provide a report to show whether it has reduced delays in responding to complaints over the last year. If delays have not reduced, it will provide a plan with details of the action it will take to reduce delays. It will take this action within eight weeks.
37. The Council will also take the following actions within eight weeks:
• Remind its homelessness case officers of the importance of proper record keeping.
• Remind complaints officers to ensure a response is provided to all aspects of a complaint.
38. The Council has accepted that it has ongoing delays in processing and reviewing housing applications due to unprecedented demand. It has provided us with a copy of its action plan to reduce the timescales for assessing new applications, which includes a full-scale restructure and extensive recruitment.
39. The Council has recently agreed to provide an updated action plan to show how it proposes to reduce delays in processing all applications and review requests. It has also agreed to provide an updated report to show the improvements made since the first action plan was sent to us.

Back to top

Final decision

40. I have completed my investigation and uphold Miss B’s complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice. The action the Council has agreed to take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman