Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Ms Y when she was homeless in 2017. This is because this is a late complaint and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains on behalf of Ms Y. Mr X says the Council failed to provide Ms Y with details of her right of appeal against its decision about her homelessness in 2017. Mr X also says the Council failed to write to Ms Y with a decision on her homeless case around the same time.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman on behalf of Ms Y about this matter in 2018. We told him he needed to complain to the Council before complaining to us.
7. Mr X says the Ombudsman told him he should complain to a Housing Benefit Tribunal about what happened, and the Tribunal subsequently told him this advice was wrong.
8. We have not told Mr X or Ms Y that they should appeal to a Housing Benefit Tribunal about decisions made about Ms Y’s homelessness.
9. Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman about how the Council had dealt with Ms Y’s homelessness in 2017 until May 2022. Therefore this is a late complaint. We have the power to disregard this restriction where there are good reasons for doing so. However there is no reason why Mr X or Ms Y could not have complained to us sooner about this matter and there is no evidence the Ombudsman gave them wrong or misleading advice in 2018.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint on behalf of Ms Y because it is a late complaint and there is no good reason to investigate it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman