Summary: We have upheld Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in processing her housing register application and its failure to provide proper reasons for the decision of its social welfare panel. The Council remedied the injustice caused by its delay during the complaints process. It has agreed to carry out a further review of Ms X’s housing register application to remedy the uncertainty caused by its previous decision.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained:
• about the Council’s delay in processing her housing register application;
• about its decision to award priority band 3, given she says her current accommodation is statutorily overcrowded; and
• the Council has not explained in its decision dated 16 December 2024 what information it considered when deciding she was not eligible for band 2 priority.
2. These failings have caused Miss X an injustice because she is left with uncertainty about whether the priority band awarded is correct and, if it is wrong, may mean she remains in unsuitable housing longer than she should.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), 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 Ms X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Delay

7. Ms X applied to join the Council’s housing register in July 2023. In August 2024, the Council accepted her application and awarded band 3 priority. It later apologised for its delay in processing her application. To remedy the injustice caused, it back-dated her effective date to July 2023 and paid her £335. It confirmed she had not missed an offer of housing as a result of its delay. The Council taken appropriate steps to remedy the injustice caused and further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.

Priority band

8. Ms X also complained about the priority band awarded. She said she was statutorily overcrowded in her current housing. She also provided details about domestic abuse suffered, but the Council’s decision in December 2024, did not explain what information its social welfare panel had considered when deciding she was not eligible for a higher band.
9. If we investigated this part of the complaint further, it is likely we would find the Council was at fault for not providing clear reasons for its decision that band 2 was appropriate. We therefore asked the Council to take specific steps to remedy the uncertainty caused and it has agreed to take the following action within two months of the date of this decision:
• apologise to Miss X in line with our guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice; and
• carry out a review of her housing register application and write to her with the Council’s decision. If the priority band does not change as a result of the review, the review decision should explain what information it has considered in relation to the domestic abuse and why that does not meet the criteria for band 2 and why the Council does not consider she is statutorily overcrowded. If the priority band does change, the effective date should be back-dated to the date the Council had the relevant information to justify the higher band.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her housing register application but will not investigate further because the Council has agreed to take appropriate steps to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman