St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (23 018 388)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s housing application. This is because the Council accepted fault and offered a suitable remedy. Further investigation would not be proportionate.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council:
- Did not allocate him a property he was entitled to;
- Has refused to make him a direct offer of a four bedroom property; and
- Communicated with him poorly.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Councils must allocate properties on their housing register in line with their allocations policy.
- Mr X missed out on a three bedroom property because the Council gave preference to a band A homeless family in line with its allocations policy. The Council accepted it did not give Mr X information about this preference in advance or advertise the property properly.
- The Council apologised, offered Mr X £150 and agreed to offer him the next similar three bedroom property. This is a suitable remedy. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not be proportionate or lead to a different outcome.
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about poor communication if we are not investigating the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation would not be proportionate or lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman