Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s assessment of her housing priority. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has not properly considered her family’s housing priority. She says her current home is overcrowded and negatively impacts her child’s medical condition and development.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
3. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs X asked the Council to review her housing priority because her family of five live in an overcrowded two-bedroom flat and her youngest child has additional needs which are negatively affected by the overcrowding.
7. The evidence suggests the Council considered all the supporting information provided, including a supporting letter from her doctor and it decided Mrs X should be awarded a band B medical priority.
8. We are not an appeal body. It is not our role to say whether the Council’s decision was correct. Unless there was fault in the Council’s decision-making process, we cannot comment on the decision reached. The law says councils must allocate social housing in line with their published allocation scheme.
9. The Council considered the information Mrs X provided about her circumstances and its own allocation scheme when decision making. There is also not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman