Summary: A housing applicant complained that the Council had not awarded her enough priority for rehousing since 2016. But we will not investigate this matter because the complaint has been made late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Miss B, complained the Council had not given her enough priority for rehousing since 2016. In particular, Miss B said the Council had not taken proper account of letters from medical specialists in that time which said her current accommodation was not suitable on health grounds. Miss B felt she should have Band 1 priority under the Council’s Housing Allocations Policy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. In particular we normally 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information Miss B provided about her complaint. I also gave Miss B’s representative the chance to comment on a draft of this decision before I reached a final view. In addition I took account of Miss B’s complaint correspondence with the Council.

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My assessment

4. I have concluded that we should not investigate Miss B’s complaint. This is because she has complained to us late and, therefore, the restriction on our jurisdiction which I refer to in paragraph 2 above applies in her case.
5. In particular, I understand the Council gave Miss B Band 2 medical priority in September 2018. Miss B subsequently provided further medical evidence. The Council then carried out a review of all supporting medical information, but decided in January 2020 that Miss B’s banding priority should not be changed. The Council says Miss B has not provided any further health information since then.
6. But Miss B did not complain to an Ombudsman service until July 2021, at which point she contacted the Housing Ombudsman who later advised her to also complain to us.
7. Therefore I consider Miss B did not raise her complaint until around 18 months after the date she became aware of the Council’s most recent decision about her medical priority. So her complaint in this respect, and about any previous events in her case, is well outside the permitted period of 12 months for making complaints to us.
8. I am also not convinced there are any grounds for us to exercise our discretion and investigate Miss B’s complaint now despite it being late. In particular Miss B has not provided any reason why she could not have made a complaint to us much nearer the time she became aware of the issues in question.

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Final Decision

9. We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council has not given her enough priority for rehousing since 2016. This is because Miss B has complained late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion and pursue matters in her case now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman