Stevenage Borough Council (25 001 176)
Category : Housing > Allocations
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Jul 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about her banding under the Council’s housing allocation scheme. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
- Miss X complains about the Council’s review process following her request for a change in her housing banding.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
- If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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
- Miss X asked the Council to review her housing banding to take into account new information.
- The Council conducted a review but, as it had not carried out an informal review first, it agreed to undertake a further review using the information Miss X had provided.
- The further review was completed, but it did not result in a change to Miss X’s banding.
- I will not investigate this complaint further because there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision. The Council considered relevant information in accordance with its policy and fully explained its reasoning when informing Miss X of the outcome.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman