London Borough of Enfield (19 004 042)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Miss X complains that the Council did not adequately help her when she became homeless and did not properly respond to her complaint. She says she was homeless for six weeks and lost sentimental belongings when she was illegally evicted. She says this caused unnecessary distress, upset, and cost her time and trouble. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council which caused Miss X injustice. The Ombudsman is satisfied that the Council has apologised to Miss X and made a payment to reflect the injustice. The Ombudsman is also satisfied with the action the Council has taken to improve its homelessness service.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Miss X, complains that the Council:
- did not adequately help her when she became homeless; and,
- did not properly respond to her complaint.
- Miss X says she was homeless for six weeks and had to sleep on a friend’s floor. She says she lost sentimental possessions when she was illegally evicted. She says she now cannot join the housing register in this borough or the borough she moved to. She says this has caused her unnecessary distress, upset, and cost her time and trouble.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information and documents provided by Miss X and the Council. I spoke to Miss X about her complaint. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments and further information received before I reached a final decision.
- I considered the relevant legislation and policies, set out below.
What I found
What should have happened
Homelessness
- The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 came into force on 3 April 2018. This says that councils must provide a free service which gives information and advice on preventing homelessness, securing accommodation for homeless people, the rights of those who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, and what help the council can give.
- If someone applies to a council for housing, the council must determine if the person is homeless, threatened with homelessness, and whether they are eligible for assistance. The council must assess the person. The council must then determine if it has a duty to accommodate that person.
Complaints procedure
- The Council has a two stage complaints procedure. This says that the Council’s stage one response will be sent within ten working days of its acknowledgement of the complaint.
- If the complainant remains dissatisfied, they can ask the Council to review the complaint at the second/final stage of the complaints procedure. The procedure says the Council will acknowledge a request for a final review within five working days, and will send the final complaint response within 30 working days of the acknowledgement. This final response will say if a complaint has been upheld, partially upheld, or not upheld.
- The procedure lists the Council’s aims and objectives, which include “ensuring that complaints are addressed and responded to in a timely manner”.
What happened
- Miss X was living in private rented accommodation. On a Saturday night in June 2018, Miss X’s landlord illegally evicted her with no notice. He locked the doors and prevented Miss X from collecting her belongings.
- The next day, Miss X applied online to the Council for help with housing. She also called the Council. She says she was told that no one could help her because it was a Sunday, but her information would be passed to the relevant team.
- Miss X called the Council the next day (Monday), seeking support to get an injunction against the landlord to get her belongings back. The Council was not able to help her with that request but gave her information and advice.
- In July, Miss X complained to the Council about the way it handled her request for help.
- The Council sent its stage one response later that month. It said Miss X had told the Council she did not want assistance with housing or to make a homeless application. It said Miss X wanted the Council to act as an advocate to help get her belongings back. It signposted Miss X to its homelessness page on its website.
- Miss X responded the same day. She did not agree that she did not ask for housing assistance, and said she was still homeless. She said her immediate concern was getting her belongings, and wanted help getting these back.
- The Council replied the same day. It said it would look at her response and pass it on to relevant officers.
- At the end of July, the Council sent Miss X its decision on her homeless application. The Council said she was not eligible to be on the housing register because she was currently living in one-bedroom, privately rented accommodation. It said she could request a review of this decision.
- Miss X responded the same day. She said she was still homeless.
- In August, Miss X moved into new accommodation.
- In June 2019, Miss X complained to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman asked the Council to send a final complaint response. The Ombudsman chased the Council for its final response in July and August.
- In October, the Council sent Miss X its final complaint response. It apologised for the delay and inconvenience. It said the staff member who was dealing with her complaint had left the Council and Miss X’s complaint had not been processed. The Council said it had since improved the way it monitors complaints.
- The Council repeated that both officers Miss X spoke to at the time said Miss X did not ask for help with housing. They said Miss X said she wanted the Council to take legal action against the landlord to get her belongings back and for the illegal eviction. The Council said its records showed that officers explained Miss X’s options to her.
Analysis
Homelessness
- Miss X complains that the Council did not adequately help her when she became homeless (part a of the complaint).
- The Council decided that Miss X was not eligible to be on the housing register because she was living in privately rented accommodation.
- I have seen Miss X’s application. It says she is a rough sleeper and had suffered landlord harassment, but indicated that she may not be homeless. It also said she was not living in privately rented accommodation.
- The Council accepts that there is some conflicting information in Miss X’s application. It accepts it did not make any further enquiries to reconcile these differences when making its decision.
- This is fault. The Council should have made further enquiries to fully understand Miss X’s position before making any decision on her application. I find that this fault caused Miss X injustice because it denied Miss X access to the housing support the Council should have provided.
- Furthermore, Miss X immediately responded to the Council’s decision. She told the Council she was homeless. The Council says it failed to act on that email.
- This is fault. The Council should have reviewed its decision on Miss X’s application with this information. It did not do this. This fault caused Miss X further injustice because again the Council’s actions denied her access to the housing support she was entitled to receive from the Council.
- I also find that the combined faults of failing to properly decide Miss X’s application caused her unnecessary distress and cost time and trouble.
- The Council has now apologised to Miss X for the injustice and made a payment to her of £3000. It told Miss X that it will get more trained staff to deliver the homelessness prevention scheme. It said it now has a solicitor to investigate illegal evictions. It also said it is investing in a landlord licensing scheme to improve conditions and deal with rogue landlords.
- I am satisfied that the actions the Council has taken are suitable to remedy the personal injustice to Miss X as well as to improve the service for others.
Complaint handling
- Miss X complains that the Council did not properly respond to her complaint (part b of the complaint).
- The Council’s stage one complaint response did not signpost Miss X to the next stage of the complaints procedure if she remained dissatisfied. The Council’s procedure does not explicitly say it will signpost complainants to the next stage of the procedure. However, it is my view that the Council should do this. The Council may wish to consider this, because it is important that complainants are told about their right to request a review of the complaint response.
- Miss X emailed the Council the same day she received the stage one response. She was clearly dissatisfied with the Council’s response. The Council replied and said it would pass it on to relevant officers.
- Miss X did not explicitly ask for her complaint to be reviewed at the final stage of the procedure. This is most likely because she was not told, in the stage one response, of her right to ask for this review. The Council should have acknowledged Miss X’s request for a final stage review of her complaint. It did not do this. This is fault.
- I find that Miss X essentially asked for a final stage review of her complaint in July 2018. The Council did not send its final response until October 2019, 15 months later. This is fault. This caused Miss X injustice because of the significant amount of time she spent waiting for the response.
- The final response did not say which parts of Miss X’s complaints were upheld, partially upheld, or not upheld. I therefore find that this response is not in line with the Council’s procedure. This is fault.
- As above, I am satisfied that the actions the Council has taken are suitable to remedy the personal injustice to Miss X.
Final decision
- I have completed my investigation. I uphold Miss X’s complaint in full because there is fault which caused Miss X injustice. I am satisfied that the actions the Council has taken are suitable to remedy the injustice to Miss X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman