Lichfield District Council (22 017 939)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Apr 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s homelessness and housing register applications. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault with the way the Council dealt with his applications.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his homelessness and housing register applications. He says the Council has acted in a discriminatory manner towards him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X made a homeless and housing register application to the Council.
- The Council explained to Mr X it could not process his homelessness application because it still needed several documents before it could decide whether it owed him any duties under the law. The Council also explained Mr X needed to provide information to prove his local connection before it could process his application to join the housing register.
- The Council has outlined exactly what documents Mr X needs to provide and why it needs the documents. The Council has also clearly explained to Mr X it cannot progress his applications until he provides the required information.
- There is no evidence the Council has treated Mr X differently due to a protected characteristic. The Council has asked Mr X to provide the documents it needs to process his application. This is the same information it asks of all homelessness applicants.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault with the way the Council dealt with his homelessness and housing register applications.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman