Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council considered Mrs X’s housing priority. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council gave her incorrect banding and complains of overcrowding.

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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 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, any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (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 Mrs X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X says her property is unsuitable as she lives in a 2 bedroom property with her husband and 4 children.
7. In the complaint response the Council explained it had taken this into consideration and applied the relevant policies and processes, and her current band status allows her to bid on 3 bedroom properties.
8. The Council’s review letter set out the information considered when reaching its decision. The Council addressed Mrs X’s reasons for wanting increased priority and explained why it would not increase her priority.
9. 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.
10. The Council’s review decision letters show it considered all the relevant information, including its housing allocation policy when considering Mrs X’s priority band and bedroom eligibility. So, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation into Mrs X’s complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman