Summary: Miss Y complained about the way the Council dealt with its offer of, and her move to, permanent accommodation. We have found fault by the Council in failing to promptly assess Miss Y’s need for care and support and Occupational Therapy and make safeguarding enquiries, consider reasonable adjustments, provide Occupational Therapy support with the final accommodation offer, consider her request for support with her move, respond properly to her concerns about the accommodation after she moved, respond to her review request and the delays in its complaint handling. We have also found fault by the Council in failing to consider the impact on Miss Y’s human rights. These faults caused Miss Y injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy this by apologising to Miss Y, making a payment to reflect her upset, time and trouble, providing us with an update on her accommodation and making service improvements.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I am calling Miss Y, complains the Council failed to assess her need for support and reasonable adjustments, provide her with support with its offer of, and her move to, permanent accommodation, and respond to her concerns about issues with the accommodation. She says the Council failed to:
1. respond to her requests for an assessment of her care and support needs and an occupational therapy assessment;
2. assess her medical and other issues and her need for support and reasonable adjustments in its communications with her, while she was living in temporary accommodation from October 2020 and before making offers of permanent accommodation;
3. support her in making a decision about the final accommodation offer. It pressured her to accept the offer;
4. offer any support with her move to new accommodation, although it was fully aware of her disability, serious medical conditions, learning disability and dyslexia;
5. respond to her report on 8 December 2021 about her concerns and issues with the accommodation and the landlord; and
6. treat her concerns about the accommodation as a request for a review of its suitability.
2. Because of the Council’s failures, she moved to, and was left living in, an unsuitable property without any appropriate support or response to her requests for help. The situation has affected her health and wellbeing.
3. Miss Y wants the Council to resolve her housing situation and move her to other suitable accommodation as quickly as possible.

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What I have and have not investigated

4. I have investigated events from May 2021.
5. This is because the law says 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)
6. Miss Y complained to us in May 2022. This means we would not normally investigate matters before May 2021.
7. In this case, I do not consider there are good reasons why Miss Y could not have complained to us sooner about things that happened before May 2021.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

8. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these.
9. 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)
10. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

11. I spoke to Miss Y, made enquiries of the Council and read the information Miss Y and the Council provided about the complaint.
12. I invited Miss Y and the Council to comment on a draft version of this decision. I considered their responses before making my final decision.

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What I found

What should have happened

Care and support needs

13. The Care Act 2014 requires councils to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must involve the individual (and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved).
14. Councils must carry out assessments over a suitable and reasonable timescale considering the urgency of needs and any variation in those needs. Councils should tell people when their assessment will take place and keep them informed throughout the assessment.
15. Where councils have determined that a person has any eligible needs, they must meet those needs. The person's needs and how they will be met must be set out in a care and support plan. The plan should be proportionate to the needs to be met, and should reflect the person’s wishes, preferences and aspirations.

Safeguarding adults

16. The Care Act 2014 also places a duty on councils to safeguard adults who:
• have needs for care and support (whether the council is meeting those needs or not);
• are experiencing, or are at risk of, abuse or neglect; and
• because of their care and support needs, are unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect.
17. If the council has reason to suspect an adult is experiencing, or at risk of abuse or neglect, it should complete an enquiry. Enquiries should be proportionate and allow the council to identify whether it needs to act to prevent or stop abuse and neglect.

The main housing duty

18. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
19. If a council accepts the main housing duty it must then secure that suitable temporary accommodation is available for the applicant.
20. The main housing duty will come to an end in a number of ways including when the applicant either:

• accepts an offer of a tenancy made under Part 6 of the Housing Act (an offer under the Council’s housing allocation scheme); or
• refuses a final offer of suitable Part 6 accommodation.

The Council’s allocations scheme – direct offers

21. The Council operates a choice based letting (CBL) scheme. This allows applicants on the housing register to choose the properties they want to bid for.
22. The allocations scheme says in certain circumstances it may make an applicant a direct offer of suitable accommodation outside of the CBL scheme, where in its discretion it considers it necessary or appropriate to do so.
23. Applicants who have been made a direct housing offer which they believe is not suitable have the right to ask for an internal review within 21 days of the date the offer is made.

Human rights and equalities

24. The Human Rights Act 1998 (the 1998 Act) sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that people can expect.
25. Article 8 of the 1998 Act says everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life, their home and their correspondence. Public authorities may be obliged to actively protect rights under this article and may interfere with these rights to protect the rights of other people or the public interest. The public authority must interfere with the right as little as possible.
26. In 2009, the UK agreed to follow the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The purpose of the CRPD is to “promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights an fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.” (UN Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner, online at Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities | OHCHR).
27. The Equality Act 2010 protects the rights of individuals and supports equality of opportunity for all. It offers protection in employment, education, the provision of goods and services, housing, transport and the carrying out of public functions.
28. The Equality Act makes it unlawful for organisations carrying out public functions to discriminate on any of the nine protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act 2010. They must also have regard to the general duties aimed at eliminating discrimination under the Public Sector Equality Duty. The ‘protected characteristics’ referred to in the Act include disability.
29. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires all local authorities (and bodies acting on their behalf) to have due regard to the need to:
• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
30. The broad purpose of the public sector equality duty is to consider equality and good relations into the day-to-day business and decision making of public authorities. It requires equality considerations to be reflected into the design of policies and the delivery of services, including internal policies, and for these issues to be kept under review.

Reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities

31. The reasonable adjustment duty is set out in the Equality Act and applies to any body which carries out a public function. It aims to make sure a disabled person can use a service as close as it is reasonably possible to get to the standard usually offered to non-disabled people.
32. Service providers are under a positive and proactive duty to take steps to remove or prevent obstacles to accessing their service. If the adjustments are reasonable, they must make them.
33. The duty is ‘anticipatory’. This means service providers cannot wait until a disabled person wants to use their services but must think in advance about what disabled people with a range of impairments might reasonably need.

What happened

34. I have set out a summary of the key events below. It is not meant to show everything that happened.

Background

35. Miss Y has a number of medical and mental health conditions and disabilities. She was homeless before her admission to hospital in 2020. On her discharge from hospital in October 2020, the Council accepted it owed her the main housing duty. It provided her with temporary accommodation outside of the borough.
36. The Council’s medical adviser considered Miss Y’s medical information and advised she would be considerably more vulnerable than an ordinary person if homeless. Her housing needs were for ground floor accommodation, or any floor with a lift, and a level access shower.

June 2021 to August 2021

37. The Council made its first offer of permanent accommodation to Miss Y.
38. Miss Y was supported by a keyworker from a charity. Her keyworker provided the Council with full details of Miss Y’s medical and mental health conditions, disabilities and mobility issues. They also asked the Council if it had assessed Miss Y’s support needs.
39. The Council did not proceed with this first offer.

September 2021 – further accommodation offer

40. The Council made Miss Y a further accommodation offer. After viewing the accommodation, Miss Y told the Council it was unsuitable for her.
41. The Council decided there should be an occupational therapy (OT) assessment of Miss Y’s mobility issues before it made any further offers. It asked its OT team to carry out an assessment.
42. An Occupational Therapist arranged to visit and assess the accommodation offered.
43. The Council considered Miss Y’s concerns about the accommodation’s suitability (which included the steps and size of the shower space). It withdrew the offer and told OT to cancel the visit.

October 2021 – final accommodation offer

44. The housing team asked OT to view and assess another suitable property it had found. It said it would contact OT with the viewing date once this was arranged.
45. On 12 October, Miss Y’s keyworker told the Council Miss Y needed support in meetings because she had difficulty processing information.
46. The Council made a final offer of permanent accommodation to Miss Y on 15 October. It arranged to talk through the offer by phone with Miss Y and her keyworker while they were in a meeting together so the keyworker could support her with this. The offer, confirmed in writing the same day, said:

• The accommodation was on the ground floor, with level access and a wet room. It was close to local amenities and transport;
• This was a final offer. If Miss Y refused, the Council would cease to have a duty to house her and temporary accommodation would no longer be provided;
• Viewing would be conducted virtually or in person;
• Miss Y had the right to a review if she refused the offer;
• If she believed the accommodation was not suitable, she could refuse the offer and make a review request within 21 days of the offer date; and
• She could accept the accommodation but still ask for a suitability review. If the review was rejected, she could remain in the property.

47. OT asked the housing team on 21 October about a viewing date. I have not seen any record of a response to this query. (OT says it heard nothing further and closed its file on 26 October).
48. A viewing date had been arranged for 21 October. The Council says it told Miss Y’s keyworker about the date. However, Miss Y viewed the property on her own.
49. Miss Y accepted the accommodation offer on 22 October.

15 November 2021 - Miss Y’s email

50. Miss Y emailed the Council with concerns about her move to the new accommodation. She said she had dyslexia, the message had taken hours and hours and she hoped someone would actually act on her message.
51. Her concerns included:

• She had not been given any support by Adult Social Care (ASC). She was a disabled, vulnerable adult with learning disabilities, dyslexia and other serious health conditions. She asked for an assessment of her care and support needs and an OT assessment;
• She was very appreciative to have a new permanent home. But she felt she had been failed. She had been provided with support and disability friendly communication for previous offers and viewings, but not for this final accommodation offer;
• She was confused about the availability of assistance for reasonable adjustments;
• She had not received any help to buy bedding or curtains and had no friends or family to help her; and
• She did not have a clue about her new landlord. It had just said everything she needed to know was on its website. Her requests for an appointment with the new customer housing advice team had been ignored.

52. The housing team contacted OT on 16 November about an assessment. There is no record the request was progressed.
53. I have not seen any record the Council contacted Miss Y in response to her concerns of 15 November.

23 November 2021 - Miss Y’s email

54. Miss Y emailed the Council with further concerns. These included:

• The new landlord would not contact her keyworkers about her move, although she had given consent for this;
• There was a lack of information from the landlord. She had not been given a start-up pack;
• She had not received any response from ASC or OT;
• No reasonable adjustments had been made for her as a new disabled tenant;
• She wanted to complain about the Council’s failure to communicate with her. She had heard nothing since it offered her the accommodation. Her requests for advice had been ignored; and
• She asked the Council to acknowledge her complaint and ensure she received a reply.

55. The Council told Miss Y’s keyworker on 30 November it had arranged for the delivery of its Residents Support Service (RSS) within the next 10 days. I understand RSS provided some furniture and white goods.
56. I have not seen any record the Council contacted Miss Y in response to her concerns of 23 November.

December 2021 – Miss Y’s move to the new accommodation

57. Miss Y moved in on 6 December.
58. She told the Council by email on 8 December:

• She had to complete the move on her own with no help from housing services;
• The landlord had not provided a booking-in service; and
• She had no heating, lights, or hot water. There was no carpet. Her food had been ruined (without a working fridge or freezer.) She was living in squat conditions.

59. An incident concerning Miss Y was reported by Mr Z to the housing team. He said he had found Miss Y in a very distressed state on the street on 8 December. She said she had just moved into a property but had no electricity, heating or water. She had limited means and difficulties with her benefits. She had not been able to contact anyone at the Council or the landlord for help. Mr Z said he was a social worker with the Council but had no professional involvement with Miss Y. He just happened to be passing by when the incident occurred.

9 December to 24 December 2021

60. On 9 December:

• a senior manager in the housing team suggested to Mr Z he contact Miss Y’s landlord. The manager also said it was not clear why Miss Y had not been supported to arrange amenities and utilities;
• ASC sent Miss Y referral forms for needs and OT assessments; and
• Miss Y sent an email to the Council saying it was impossible to get hold of anyone from its housing team or the landlord and asking if someone could help her.

61. On 13 December the Council’s triage team asked the housing team to call Miss Y urgently. She had called into the office extremely distressed because of her housing conditions. She said she had not eaten for weeks, had no money, no gas or electricity and the accommodation was not fit for habitation.
62. On 15 December:

• Two MPs contacted the Council on Miss Y’s behalf about her accommodation issues;
• Miss Y emailed the Council. She said the property was not fit for habitation. She asked for this to be sorted and to be found other suitable accommodation;
• A housing manager was told the landlord had not resolved Miss Y’s gas and electric issues and she still had no heating or hot water;
• A housing manager asked Mr Z to contact an independent tenant support organisation; and
• A manager called Miss Y to ask if the issues had been resolved.

63. On 16 December:

• Miss Y contacted the Council again. She said she still had no heating, hot water, or the means to cook. She had been sitting at bus shelters to keep warm and begging for food. She asked to be moved; and
• The landlord told the Council a heating engineer had attended but had been unable to obtain access. A new appointment had been arranged for 20 December so the engineer could uncap the gas. Miss Y would then have hot water and heating.

64. Between 21 and 24 December:

• Miss Y told the housing and ASC teams she had not received a response to her requests for an assessment and support with her housing issues;
• Miss Y’s keyworker asked ASC to complete a self-referral;
• Miss Y told the Council she had received no support with the move although it knew she had disabilities and was vulnerable. She had no bedding or blankets. She was worried she would be left without a response or support over Christmas; and
• A senior manager replied to Miss Y. They said they had contacted the landlord. The landlord would visit her at home to resolve the issues. The manager would phone Miss Y to discuss the support the Council could offer.

28 December 2021 to January 2022

65. Miss Y continued to contact the Council about her complaints, including its failure to respond to her request to appeal the suitability of the accommodation.
66. The housing team asked ASC to complete a needs assessment for Miss Y.
67. ASC said it had not yet received a referral form from Miss Y and sent her a further form.
68. The keyworker made a formal complaint to ASC on 25 January about its failure to respond to these requests.
69. Following this complaint ASC started the process for the assessment of Miss Y’s needs.

February 2022 to May 2022 – care and support needs and OT assessments

70. ASC asked Miss Y for information. She said she would need help from her keyworker to understand the information request.
71. An OT assessment appointment was arranged in March. This could not be completed because of concerns about Miss Y’s behaviour.
72. Miss Y asked the Council about the assessment procedure on 7 April. She said she was dyslexic, had learning disabilities as well as mental health problems. She would be overwhelmed by lots of questions. Miss Y asked for forms to be sent to her ahead of appointments so she could fill these out in advance.
73. An Occupational Therapist and an ASC social worker arranged a joint assessment visit with Miss Y. The assessments were completed on 5 May.
74. Miss Y was assessed as having eligible needs and offered a support package. Miss Y declined the offer because, she said, her main priority now was to be moved.

February 2022 to April 2022 - Miss Y’s complaint

75. The Council acknowledged Miss Y’s complaint in February. Miss Y said she had been trying to complain since November 2021.
76. She told the complaints team she had dyslexia and learning disabilities and worked best speaking face to face. She asked if there were any staff who could help someone with her profile.
77. In its complaint responses in March and April, the Council said:

• She had not asked for a suitability review;
• It was the landlord’s responsibility to resolve the issues with the property. The housing team had contacted the landlord on her behalf about the gas and electricity issues. The landlord had said it was trying to contact her to resolve this. Her social worker had also become involved;
• ASC had tried to contact her about her referral request without success. It had been in touch with her in February about the assessment process; and
• It had not upheld her complaint because there was no evidence of service failure. It was satisfied the Council had made every effort to help her with matters predominantly outside its remit.

19 May 2022 - meeting with Miss Y

78. Miss Y had a meeting with Council housing officers and the landlord. The Council has told us:

• It made reasonable adjustments to help Miss Y at the meeting;
• Its officers had helped her obtain information and complete forms for her transfer application; and
• It had agreed to move Miss Y to another social housing property and would make her a direct offer of accommodation.

May 2022 - complaint to us

79. Miss Y contacted us about her complaint.

My findings – was there fault by the Council causing injustice?

80. My findings are based on the evidence seen, including the records provided to me by the Council in response to my information request. I have summarised the relevant evidence in the “what happened” section above.
81. For the reasons explained in paragraphs 5,6 and 7, I have not made findings on what happened before May 2021.

(a) Assessment of Miss Y’s need for care and support and OT

82. Miss Y’s keyworker provided the Council in July 2021 with full details of Miss Y’s medical and mental health conditions, and disabilities, and asked whether it had assessed Miss Y’s support needs. In my view the Council should have considered at this stage whether Miss Y appears to have a need for care and support, and if so it should have arranged for an assessment of these needs. I consider its failure to do so was fault.
83. Had it considered whether Miss Y appeared to have support needs, my view is it would have referred her for an assessment. Because of this fault, Miss Y lost the opportunity to have her needs assessed, and support offered at a much earlier stage.
84. Miss Y made specific and urgent requests for ASC and OT assessments in November 2021.
85. In my view, the Council should have considered, in November 2021, whether Miss Y appeared to have a need for care and support, and if so, the urgency of her need for an assessment. Had it done so, in my view it should have arranged assessments as soon as possible. I consider its failure to do so in November 2021 was fault.
86. Miss Y and her keyworker repeatedly asked for assessments in December and January. The Council knew about Miss Y’s communication issues, which included not always having access to emails and a need for support to process information. In my view, because of the extent of Miss Y’s distress and her significant difficulties, the Council should have taken effective action to start the assessment process urgently. I have not seen any evidence it did so, and I consider this failure was fault.
87. The Council was told about the incidents on 8 and 13 December. I consider, the reports about Miss Y’s circumstances and level of distress were a reason for the Council to suspect she was she was experiencing or at risk of neglect. It should have started a safeguarding enquiry. It did not do so, and, in my view, this was fault.
88. Because of the above faults the assessment process did not start until the end of January 2022. The significant delay meant that Miss Y lost the opportunity to have her support and OT needs assessed at a much earlier stage. Had appropriate support been in place before, and at the time Miss Y moved, I think the outcome could have been very different. I consider the delays and failure to respond to her requests caused Miss Y significant distress and inconvenience.

(b) Reasonable Adjustments

89. The Council knew Miss Y needed support with communication. She was supported by a keyworker and it was told Miss Y had difficulty processing information. Miss Y told the Council in November about her dyslexia and the difficulty she had had writing the email. She also asked about the availability of reasonable adjustments.
90. I have not seen any evidence the Council responded to Miss Y’s question about reasonable adjustments. Or that it considered or discussed with Miss Y, what adjustments it could make to help her communicate with it (save for the phone call about the offer) or made any record about this before May 2022.
91. As explained above, under the Equality Act 2010, councils are under a duty to

make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. This is to make sure people

with disabilities can access their service as easily as people without disabilities.

While the adjustments some people need might be obvious, for those with ‘hidden

disabilities’ it may not be immediately apparent that they need extra help. In our

focus report, “Equal Access: Getting it right for people with disabilities”, we have

explained that this means it is vital councils anticipate people’s needs, as the law

requires, and proactively ask sensitive questions about any help people may

need.

92. We would expect the Council to ensure people are routinely asked or prompted about reasonable adjustments. Any decision on reasonable adjustments - including responses to requests for reasonable adjustments - should be clearly communicated to the individual concerned. In my view, the Council’s failure to do so in Miss Y’s case is fault.
93. Because of this failure, the different Council teams providing services to Miss Y did not know about her disabilities, their effect on the way she communicated and processed information, or any appropriate reasonable adjustments before contacting her. Miss Y had to repeatedly explain the issues to these teams and continue to try to access services without appropriate adjustments being made. I consider this caused Miss Y significant distress, time and trouble.

(c) Final accommodation offer

94. The Council considered what its medical adviser said about suitable accommodation for Miss Y. The final offer of accommodation, ground floor with level access and a wet room, met these requirements.
95. The offer letter explained Miss Y’s right to a review if she felt the accommodation was unsuitable. She had raised concerns about the suitability of previous accommodation offers, and these offers had then been withdrawn. The Council ensured Miss Y had the support of her keyworker when it made her the final offer.
96. I have not found fault with the way in which the Council considered the suitability of the final accommodation offer or its initial communication of the offer.
97. But the Council had decided OT assessments of both Miss Y’s mobility issues and the proposed accommodation should be completed before any final offer of accommodation was made. These assessments were not carried out before the final offer was made on 15 October, or accepted by Miss Y.
98. I consider this was fault. Because of this Miss Y lost the opportunity to have an OT assessment of her mobility issues and the suitability of the accommodation before she accepted the offer. She also lost the opportunity to be supported by an OT when she viewed the accommodation and discuss the suitability of its location and facilities and appropriate furniture, in view of her mobility and health issues.
99. Miss Y viewed the property on her own without any support. I cannot say what difference it would have made had she received OT support. But I consider the failure to arrange this meant Miss Y did not have the support she needed to express any concerns she had about the suitability of her accommodation. This may have led her to feel pressured to accept the offer.

(d) Support with the move to permanent accommodation

100. The Council was well aware of Miss Y’s health issues and disabilities when she accepted its offer of permanent accommodation. I have not seen any evidence it considered or discussed with her what support she might need with the move.
101. The Council says it arranged for support from its Resident Support Scheme. My understanding is this was limited to the delivery of some furniture (including a bed which was unsuitable for Miss Y’s needs), electric cooker, fridge feezer and washing machine.
102. The Council said in its response to our enquiries, it did not automatically provide support to move, a request must be made and assessed, and Miss Y had not asked for support.
103. But in my view, Miss Y made a very clear and urgent request for support with the move in her email of 15 November. She said she really hoped someone would act on her message. Based on the evidence I have seen, the Council did not do so. Apart from a message to OT asking it to do an assessment, which was not progressed, I have not seen anything to show the Council considered her request for help and the support it could offer, or even acknowledge her email.
104. Miss Y asked the Council for help again on 23 November. Apart from telling her keyworker about the service from RSS, I have not seen anything to show the Council considered or contacted Miss Y directly about her urgent requests for support.
105. Appropriate support could have made a huge difference to Miss Y’s experience of moving and settling into her new accommodation. The distress caused to her by having no electricity, hot water, heating, carpets, bedding, or a suitable bed may have been avoided.
106. I consider the failure to consider Miss Y’s requests for help was fault by the Council. Because of this, Miss Y lost the opportunity to be supported with the arrangements and procedures for her move.

(e) Miss Y’s concerns about issues with the property and the landlord

107. I appreciate the Council was not responsible for the condition of the accommodation, or the move in arrangements. This was the landlord’s responsibility.
108. But I consider it was clear from what Miss Y told it on 8 December, the Council knew about the seriousness of the issues, which included no heating, lights, or hot water, and how extremely distressed Miss Y was about the situation.
109. Although the Council contacted the landlord, I have not seen any evidence it replied directly to Miss Y to explain what action it was taking or how she could get support to resolve the issues, until 15 December when it phoned her to ask if things had been sorted out. This was a week after Miss Y had first told it about her situation, and the same day two MPs contacted the Council on her behalf.
110. I note the Council asked Mr Z to take action. But it does not appear to have understood he was not Miss Y’s social worker (an ASC assessment had not been carried out), even though Mr Z made it clear when he reported the December incident, he had no professional involvement with Miss Y.
111. I consider the communication failures, the delay and inadequacy of the Council’s response to Miss Y about the accommodation issues was fault. Given the seriousness of the issues and her distress, I consider this caused Miss Y uncertainty about what action was being or could be taken to resolve her situation and significant additional distress, time and trouble.

(f) review request

112. The 15 October offer letter confirmed Miss Y could make a review request within 21 days of the offer date if she believed the accommodation was not suitable. This means a review request had to be made by 4 November.
113. The Council said in its complaint responses Miss Y did not ask for a review. But she had told it on 13 and 15 December 2021 the accommodation was not fit for habitation. And she complained in December (and again in January) it had failed to respond to her request to appeal about the suitability of the accommodation.
114. In my view the Council should have considered Miss Y’s contact in December 2021 as a request for a review of the suitability of her accommodation. The request was not made within 21 days of the offer date. But the Council has a discretion to consider late review requests. I have not seen any evidence it did so.
115. I consider it was fault by the Council not to acknowledge Miss Y’s review request or consider whether it could exercise its discretion to carry out a review even though the request was late. This caused Miss Y uncertainty about her request and whether suitability would be reviewed.
116. But I do not consider the fault caused any further injustice. The Council agreed in May 2022 to move Miss Y from her current accommodation to alternative suitable social housing.

(g) the Council’s complaint handling

117. Although Miss Y did not raise this with us, I consider the Council failed to acknowledge and respond promptly to her complaints.
118. Miss Y made complaints about the Council’s lack of support, communication failures and its failure to complete assessments on 23 November. She asked for her complaints to be acknowledged. She complained again in December and January.
119. The Council did not acknowledge her complaint until February 2022. It provided its first response in March, some four months after she first complained.
120. I consider this was an unreasonable delay, and fault in the Council’s complaint handling. This caused Miss Y uncertainty, time and trouble in pursuing her complaints.

(h) Human rights

121. I consider the Council’s failure to carry out a safeguarding enquiry, respond to Miss Y’s requests for an assessment of her care and support needs, and properly consider and respond to her requests for support with her move engages her article 8 human rights. This runs from its initial failure to consider her need for care and support in July 2021 to early 2022 when it finally started the assessment process. In my view, the failure to consider the impact this had on Miss Y’s human rights during this period was fault.
122. Overall, I consider Miss Y was badly let down by the Council. She and her keyworker provided the Council with full details of her disabilities, medical and mental health issues and communication difficulties at an early stage. It appears a lot of different officers were involved with her in some way, but nobody took responsibility for reviewing her requests for help. Had there been a proper consideration of her needs and the support which could be offered to her before and during her move, the outcome may have been very different.

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Agreed action

123. To remedy the injustice caused by the above faults and, within four weeks from the date of our final decision, the Council has agreed to:

• apologise to Miss Y for the faults identified above; its failure to promptly assess her need for care and support and OT and safeguarding, consider reasonable adjustments, provide OT support with the final accommodation offer, consider her request for support with her move, respond properly to her concerns about the accommodation after she moved, respond to her review request and the delays in its complaint handling;
• pay Miss Y £750 to acknowledge the significant distress, time and trouble caused by its faults as identified above. This figure is a symbolic amount based on the Ombudsman’s published Guidance on Remedies;
• confirm to us what action it has taken to consider and record any reasonable adjustments it has made for Miss Y across relevant teams; and
• confirm to us the position with regard to Miss Y’s move to alternative suitable accommodation.

124. Within three months from the date of our final decision, the Council has agreed to review its:

• procedures for, and guidance to officers on providing information about the availability of, and considering and offering support to applicants moving to accommodation offered under its Housing Act duties;
• procedures for referrals from other services to ASC for care and support need assessments and safeguarding enquiries; and
• procedures for considering and recording reasonable adjustments for service users and how agreed adjustments can be accessed by all parts of the Council.

125. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

126. I have found fault by the Council causing injustice. I have completed my investigation on the basis the Council will carry out the above actions as a suitable way to remedy the injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman