London Borough of Hillingdon (24 016 172)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We have upheld Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision on her banding level in her housing application. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.
The complaint
- Miss X complains about the Council’s decision on her banding level in her housing application. She says the Council has not properly considered her medical needs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy.(Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- If we investigated this complaint, it is likely that we would find the Council at fault. It has failed to evidence its rationale or decision making behind the current effect Miss X’s housing has upon her health, in line with its policy.
- We therefore invited the Council to consider remedying the injustice this caused by apologising and completing a further medical assessment. It should provide a clear rationale to Miss X regarding its subsequent decision based on this assessment.
- Also, we have identified an issue with the form used by the medical assessor which only requires them to tick a box to justify their decision. It does not prompt them to include their reasoning for making that decision. We have therefore invited the Council to review this form to ensure that medical assessors are prompted to include their justification for the decisions they make.
Agreed Action
- To its credit, the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the above within one month of the final decision.
Final decision
- We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman