Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council handled Ms C’s housing situation after she became homeless. This is because it was not unreasonable to expect Ms C to use her statutory right of appeal.

The complaint

1. Ms B, a legal advisor, complained on behalf of Ms C about the way the Council handled Ms C’s housing situation after she became homeless.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information Ms B and Ms C provided. I have given Ms B an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

6. Ms B told us in October 2018 Ms C received the Council’s decision discharging its housing duty to her because it said she had unreasonably refused a final offer of suitable accommodation. Since this decision Ms B said Ms C and her family have been without settled accommodation. Ms C asked the Council to review its decision which it did. In February 2019 the Council completed its review, upholding the original decision.
7. Ms B told us Ms C had to leave her temporary accommodation in July 2019 so she made a new homeless application. Ms C said the Council did not accept a full housing duty to Ms C because it decided she was intentionally homeless. Ms B

told us it was at this point that Ms C realised that the events in October 2018 were going to have a significant and long-term effect on her life. She made a formal complaint to the Council about the way it had dealt with her 2018 homelessness application and the subsequent review. The Council completed its consideration of her complaint in November 2019.

8. Ms C has explained in detail how she and her family have been affected by what happened, in particular she has described the effect on their mental health.
9. Ms B has explained the reasons why Ms C is complaining about the way the Council dealt with her housing situation. But if Ms C thought there was fault in the way the Council reached its decision, which led it to reach a decision it would not otherwise have reached, she had a method to challenge the decision. We normally expect people to use the appeal rights the law provides. A complaint to us is not a substitute for those statutory rights. Ms C had the right to appeal to the county court on a point of law after the Council’s review decision in February 2019. She had the right to seek a review of the Council’s decision on her July 2019 decision and the right to appeal to the county court if her review request had been unsuccessful.
10. We may exercise discretion to investigate complaints if they are not made to us within 12 months or if we consider it was unreasonable to expect the person affected to go to court. Ms B has told us Ms C was unaware of the implications of what happened in October 2018 until July 2019. But she was aware of the Council’s decision in October 2018 and she did exercise her right to a review of it. In any case, it was not unreasonable to expect her to use the specific right of appeal the law provides. The county court has powers we do not have to quash the Council’s decisions so it was the appropriate body to consider whether there were grounds to do so.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it was not unreasonable to expect Ms C to use her statutory right of appeal.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman