London Borough of Islington (25 024 111)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Ms X’s homelessness application. The Council has upheld the complaint and has agreed to remedy Ms X’s injustice by apologising and offering a recognition payment of £100.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about the way the Council has handled her homelessness matter. She says the Council asked her to provide the same information repeatedly, was insensitive and failed to respond to her request for support.
- Ms X says the Council has made her feel uncomfortable and uneasy with its handling of her matter. She is seeking a change of caseworker.
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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council has accepted there were failings in its records which meant it may have repeated requests for information. It has confirmed it will carry out service improvements, apologised and offered £100 in recognition of any injustice caused to Ms X.
- The Council also advised Ms X to seek help from her GP or a charity as well as providing contact details for its mental health teams. It is generally for the Council to decide whether personnel dealing with a matter are suitable.
- If we were to investigate Ms X’s complaints, it is unlikely we would achieve a worthwhile outcome beyond what the Council has already offered.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council has upheld the complaints and offered a proportionate remedy during its internal complaints process.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman