Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about what happened to Miss X’s housing register application in 2020. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council removed her from the housing register in October 2020 after wrongly deciding her property was not overcrowded.
2. Miss X says she requested a review in November 2020 and provided evidence that her property was a one-bedroom flat, but the Council failed to respond.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant, which includes the Council’s responses.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Recently, the Council declined to investigate Miss X’s complaint. It said Miss X was raising matters occurring more than 12 months earlier. It said it did not find exceptional circumstances to justify accepting the complaint now.
8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because it is caught by the time restriction on our powers and I do not see good reasons to investigate now. The Ombudsman normally expects complaints to be made within 12 months of the person becoming aware of the issue. I note Miss X’s difficult personal circumstances to explain the delay in bringing the complaint to us. However, there has been a substantial delay before bringing the complaint to the Ombudsman.
9. In our experience, given the passage of time, it would be difficult to conduct a fair and effective investigation. Memories fade, staff may have changed roles, and obtaining reliable evidence about events that occurred five to six years ago could be difficult. Therefore, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman