Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has not provided the complainant with suitable accommodation. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council has not provided a suitable home that meets her son’s needs. She says it has failed to act on the medical evidence and will not meet her son’s doctor. Ms X says a Freedom of Information (FOI) reply showed the Council allocated properties to families with less priority and she complains the Council will not refer her son for an Occupational Therapy (OT) assessment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 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

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and the information provided in response to Ms X’s Subject Access Request (SAR). I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Ms X has been on the housing register since 2007 and is in band two. The Council awarded medical priority and an extra bedroom because of her son’s needs. Ms X says she should be in band one due to her son’s health needs.
5. In response to her complaint the Council said that band two is the highest that can be awarded for medical needs. It told her how she can contact the OT team and said it does not meet people’s doctors to assess housing applications. The Council said the documents do not show properties had been offered to families with a lower priority. The Council also referred to previous complaint responses when it explained Ms X tends to only bid for houses and she should bid as much as possible, on a range of property types, to increase her chance of making a successful bid.
6. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The allocations policy says the maximum band for medical issues is band two. The Council cannot place Ms X in band one because she does not meet any of the criteria for band one and there is no medical component for band one.
7. Ms X made a SAR request, not a FOI request. A SAR reply only includes information that is personal to the applicant. A SAR response cannot include information which would show that a housing applicant with less priority had been housed ahead of Ms X. I have considered the SAR reply and there is nothing in it which says other families, with less priority, have been housed before Ms X.
8. In addition, the Council told Ms X how she can contact the OT team and it correctly explained it does not meet with applicant’s doctors. The Council considers medical evidence when assessing housing applications but there is nothing in the policy to say it will meet with doctors.
9. I appreciate Ms X has been waiting for alternative accommodation for a long time but there is nothing to suggest this is due to fault by the Council and there is nothing to indicate we need to start an investigation. We cannot award Ms X band one and we cannot ask the Council re-house her outside the normal bidding process.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman