Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing allocations because it is late without good reasons to investigate it now and there is no worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained the Council has failed to provide him with suitable temporary accommodation for several years. He said it also failed to update him on any housing bids it had made on his behalf, and his complaint.
2. Mr Y says he cannot store his mobility scooter inside his property, making it unsuitable. He says this has led his mobility scooter being damaged and a stranger entering his home while he charged the scooter. Mr Y says this caused him distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. 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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
  (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 Mr Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The law says people should normally complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue. Complaints brought to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after someone becomes aware of something a council has done are considered late. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons.
8. Mr Y says his accommodation has been unsuitable for him for seven years. therefore, his complaint is now late.
9. We have discretion set aside this restriction where we decide there are good reasons. Mr Y has not provided any good reasons why he did not bring her complaint to us within 12 months of knowing about the matter. It is reasonable to expect him to have complained sooner. We will therefore not investigate.
10. Further, If Mr Y felt the temporary accommodation was unsuitable, it would be for him to ask the Council for a review of the accommodation’s suitability, using section 202 of the Housing Act 1996. Had the Council then decided the accommodation was suitable and Mr Y wished to challenge this, he would have had the right to appeal to the county court.
11. Mr Y has also now been offered accommodation directly by the Council. The Council has apologised for any lack of communication about his bidding and was able to update him with an offer of a property suitable for his needs in June 2024. Consequently, as Mr Y has now received an offer of accommodation, there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation, so we will not investigate.
12. As we are not investigating the substantive issue, it is not a good use of public funds to investigate how the Council dealt with Mr Y’s complaint. We will not investigate this.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because it is late without good reasons to investigate it now and there is no worthwhile outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman