Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s refusal to help him when he approached it as homeless in March 2016. We cannot investigate this late complaint because there is not a good reason
Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council's refusal to help him when he approached it as homeless in March 2016. It refused to provide him with emergency interim accommodation, leaving him street homeless.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered the information Mr X provided when he complained to us.
4. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft version of my decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X approached the Council for help with housing in March 2016, after he had been made homeless. The Council did not provide him with interim accommodation. Mr X says he was street homeless after this. He later approached other councils and has been housed in interim accommodation for some periods since then.
6. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman in September 2019. There is not a good reason Mr X could not have complained to us sooner about the Council’s decision of 2016. We cannot investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this late complaint. This is because Mr X could reasonably have complained sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman