Summary: A man complained about the Council’s review decision letter which upheld its earlier decision to end its homelessness duty in his case because he refused an offer of accommodation. But we will not investigate this matter because the man has a statutory right of appeal to court he can use to challenge the Council’s decision.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mr B, complained that the Council’s review decision letter about his homelessness case was full of false and misleading information.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we normally cannot 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

3. I considered the information Mr B provided with his complaint and his comments in response to a draft version of this decision.

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My assessment

4. The Housing Act 1996 (“the Act”) says councils have a legal duty to secure accommodation for homeless people who are eligible, have a priority need, and are not intentionally homeless.
5. The Act also gives homeless applicants a right of review about councils’ main decisions on their homelessness application. This includes decisions about the suitability of accommodation they are offered and about ending the housing duty in their case. If an applicant wants to dispute a negative review decision, they can appeal to the county court on a point of law.
6. After considering all the information provided in Mr B’s case I have concluded that we should not investigate his complaint.
7. In particular, the Council’s review decision letter to Mr B informed him that if he was dissatisfied with the decision he could appeal to the county court within 21 days of receiving the letter. Therefore Mr B still has an opportunity to pursue his appeal rights.
8. In addition, the law says we normally cannot investigate a complaint where someone could take the matter to court. Mr B says the Council’s review decision letter is full of false information. So if he believes the decision is wrong in law I see no reason why he should not be expected to challenge it in court.
9. In this respect I should add that, unlike the courts, we have no powers to overturn councils’ homelessness decisions or make rulings on points of law.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s homelessness review decision in his case. This is because the law has given him statutory appeal rights he can use to dispute the decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman