Summary: Miss X has complained about how the Council dealt with concerns about her temporary accommodation. There is evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss X lived in temporary accommodation between September 2017 and March 2018 following her homelessness application to the Council. Miss X has complained about repair issues and says she regularly did not receive the breakfast that she paid for while she lived in the property.
2. Miss X has also complained about how the Council dealt with her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered all the information from Miss X (via her representative) and the Council.
6. A copy of this decision was sent in draft to Miss X’s representative and the Council. I have considered any comments received in response.

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What I found

7. If a Council is satisfied someone is eligible, unintentionally homeless and in priority need it will owe them the main homelessness duty under the Housing Act 1996. The Council usually fulfils this duty by arranging temporary accommodation until it makes a suitable offer of social housing or privately rented accommodation.
8. Councils must ensure that the accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for their needs and members of their household. This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main homelessness duty.
9. In this case, Miss X made a homelessness application to the Council in September 2017 and moved into temporary accommodation where she stayed until March 2018. Miss X says she did not have a working toilet between September 2017 and January 2018. She also complains that she did not receive a daily breakfast which she paid for as part of a weekly service charge for the property.

Repair issues

10. Miss X says the toilet was not working properly from the date she moved into the property. She says she tried to report the issue to the Council and housing provider on a few occasions, but no action was taken until January 2018. Miss X says the matter caused her considerable distress.
11. The Council says it has spoken to the housing provider and it has confirmed the toilet was working when Miss X moved into the property. The Council says there are no records of Miss X or her representative reporting problems with the toilet until December 2017. It does accept that there was a delay in December 2017 before it arranged a repair. However, it says this was as the problem was not reported in the correct way and instead raised as part of a review request under section 202 of the Housing Act. There is a statutory timescale to respond to section 202 reviews. The Council says it does not look at the full details of the request when it first receives the review. Instead it will acknowledge the request and assign the case to an officer to respond within 56 days. The Council says that it contacted the housing provider once it became aware of the issue with the toilet and arranged a repair the next day.
12. The Council says that repair issues should be reported to the accommodation provider in the first instance. If they are unhappy with the provider’s response, the matter can be escalated to the Housing Solutions Service. The Council says that Miss X would have been given the housing provider’s details when she moved into the property. However, Miss X disputes this and says she was not given any information about how to report problems with the accommodation.
13. It will never be possible for me to know for certain what information was given to Miss X when she moved into the property. However, I have reviewed the Council’s records and can see that Miss X and her representative did contact the Housing Solution Service before December 2017 to report other issues with the property. Therefore, I consider it more likely than not Miss X was aware of how to report problems with the property. I understand Miss X says that she did contact the Council before December 2017 to complain that the toilet was not functioning. But there are no records to show that the problems with the toilet were reported until Miss X’s representative requested a review. The Council then arranged for a repair. Therefore, while I understand Miss X may not agree, I cannot say there is any fault by the Council in this regard.

Missed breakfasts

14. Miss X paid a weekly service charge while she was living in temporary accommodation. This was for the cost of services such as heating, electricity, bedding and cooking facilities. The charge also included a daily breakfast. Miss X says she only received breakfast on five occasions while she was living in the property. The Council contacted the housing provider and it accepted that there had been times where Miss X’s breakfast had been missed but said this was only for a three week period. The Council offered Miss X £60 for the missed breakfasts. It later increased this to £250 as the housing provider could not supply evidence to show that it had only missed Miss X’s breakfasts for three weeks.
15. In response to my enquires, the Council has said that it overcharged Miss X for her weekly service charge. She paid £28, but the correct charge should have been £16.37, which included £3.25 for the cost of breakfast. The Council also says that due to an administrative error it did not apply the charges Miss X paid to her rent account and therefore it currently has a balance of £568. The Council has decided to repay this full amount to Miss X in addition to the £250 it has already offered.
16. It is clear that Miss X was not provided with breakfast as she should have been. This is fault. But I am satisfied that the Council has offered a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

Complaint handling

17. Miss X has also complained about how long it took the Council to respond to her complaints. The Council’s complaint process has two stages. At the first stage, the matter is referred to the manager of the department complained about who will aim to respond to the concerns within 10 working days. If the complainant remains unhappy, they can ask for a stage two review. At stage two, the issues are looked at by the Complaints and Customer Service Manager who should provide a response in 10 working days.
18. Miss X made a stage one complaint on 16 January 2018 and the Council responded on 27 March. As she was unhappy with the Council’s reply, she asked for a stage two review on 3 April 2018. The Council sent Miss X a stage two response on 9 August 2018. It is clear the Council did not respond to Miss X’s concerns in line with its policy. This is fault. However, the Council has already apologised for this delay which is a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

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Final decision

19. There is fault with how the Council dealt with issues regarding Miss X’s temporary accommodation. It has already offered a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman