Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to award medical priority in 2023. The Council has since awarded and backdated medical priority, so it is unlikely that further investigation would lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not award medical priority for his housing register application. He said this meant he was living in accommodation that was overcrowded and not suitable for his medical needs.

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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 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))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

What happened

7. Mr X lives in a 2 bedroom, 2 storey property, with his son and daughter. His application to the Council’s housing register had been accepted on the basis he was overcrowded. In August 2022, Mr X applied for medical priority. He said he was struggling to manage the stairs to use the toilet. The Council refused to award medical priority in August 2023. Its decision said it agreed with its medical adviser that a stair lift should be considered, which would require an assessment by an occupational therapist (OT).
8. Mr X asked for a review of that decision in late November 2023. The Council sent him a review form to complete. Mr X did not complete it because he said he had already provided all the information needed for a review. In January 2024, he complained his review request had been ignored. In its complaint response, the Council explained it had sent the form to make sure it had all the information Mr X wanted to provide.
9. In March 2024, the OT service acknowledged receipt of a referral and an OT carried out an assessment in early October 2024. The OT said it was possible to instal a stair lift, but the family would still be overcrowded. Following the assessment, the Council awarded medical priority for an accessible property, which it back-dated to May 2023.

My assessment

10. Mr X complained to us in August 2024 about events from August 2024. We would usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months unless there are good reasons for not doing so. We will not exercise discretion to investigate the period before August 2024 because there is no evidence to suggest Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
11. The Council was aware in August 2023 that Mr X was not able to manage the stairs in his property and either needed a stair lift or medical priority so he could move to an accessible property. It is unclear why it did not identify, at that point, that Mr X’s property would still be overcrowded even if a stair lift was installed. It is also unclear why it did not make a referral for an OT assessment until March 2024. That said, there was some delay by Mr X in asking for a review of the August 2023 decision, and he failed to complete the review form sent to him in November 2024.
12. The Council did not delay in awarding medical priority after it received the OT assessment. Although it is likely it could have made that decision earlier, but for the factors set out in paragraph 11 above, the Council has remedied any injustice caused by the delay by back-dating the effective date for the increased priority to May 2023. Therefore, we will not investigate further because it is unlikely that further investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely this would lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman