Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his housing register priority points award and that the Council has not yet made him an offer of suitable housing. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about his housing register priority points award and that the Council has not yet made him an offer of suitable housing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))

3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. In its complaint response, the Council explained how it had considered his application for medical points but decided he did not qualify for a medical points award. It set out how it had calculated his priority points award which included recognition of the overcrowding in his current property and the length of time he had been on the housing register. It said he had been assessed as needing a 3-bedroom property.
7. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
8. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has appropriately considered his application for medical points but decided he is not eligible. There is not enough evidence of fault in how it has reached this decision so we cannot question the decision reached.
9. Although I accept Mr X has been waiting a long time for housing and is overcrowded, the Council’s priority points award appears to be in line with its published allocations scheme. We recognise that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas, which can lead to long waits for an offer of a property. Although he has not yet been made an offer of a suitable property, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision making to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman