Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council did not help the complainant when she was facing homelessness in 2019. This is because it is a late complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council did not help when she applied to join the housing register in 2019 because she was facing homelessness.

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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.
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. Ms X applied to join the housing register in 2019. The Council closed the application because Ms X did not provide all the required supporting evidence. The Council completed its consideration of Ms X’s complaint in 2019. Ms X complained to us in June 2022.

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Final decision

6. We will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Ms X has been aware of the issues since 2019 but did not complain to us until 2022. This is longer than 12 months and I have not seen any good reason to investigate a late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman