Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to remove priority starts from a housing application. Not only is the complaint late, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision to remove priority starts from her housing register application in September 2022. She said their current housing is unsuitable from the family’s needs. She wants the Council to award sufficient points to enable them to successfully bid on a new property.

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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)
4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. The Council wrote to Mrs X in September 2022 and told her it had removed two priority points from her housing register application. Mrs X contacted the Council and asked it for a review. The Council issued the review response in December 2022. It did not uphold the review. Mrs X said she did not receive the response until January 2023.
9. Mrs X did not complain to the Ombudsman until December 2023. Therefore, this complaint is late, as the removal of points occurred more than twelve months before Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman. As the Council sent Mrs X its review response in January 2023, it was reasonable for Mrs X to complain to us sooner if she was unhappy in how it reached its decision.
10. In any event, even if the complaint was not late, we would not investigate. The Council explained it had added the priority points in error. In its review response it considered Mrs X’s representations around overcrowding, health need and the condition of the property. It explained it did not consider Mrs X’s application met the criteria for the priority points. I am satisfied the Council considered the evidence available in line with its housing allocations policy. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council complete the housing review to justify our involvement.
11. The Council has recently increased Mrs X’s banding due to a change in circumstances. Mrs X has made a further complaint to the Council around types of property she can bid on. That complaint has not yet completed the Council’s complaint procedure. Once she has exhausted that process she can return to the Ombudsman if she remains unhappy with the outcome.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the complaint is late and there is not enough evidence to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman