Spelthorne Borough Council (19 015 135)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Jan 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s refusal to help him when he approached it as homeless in February 2018. We cannot investigate this late complaint because there is not a good reason
Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman sooner.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council refused to provide him with emergency housing when he approached it in February 2018. It gave him a handwritten letter saying he was not homeless because he had made his own arrangements on getting evicted.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information Mr X provided when he complained to us.
- I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft version of my decision.
What I found
- Mr X approached the Council for help with housing in February 2018, after he had been made homeless. The Council did not provide him with interim accommodation. Mr X has since approached other councils and has been housed in interim accommodation for some periods since then.
- 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 2018. We cannot investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate this late complaint. This is because Mr X could reasonably have complained sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman