London Borough of Lambeth (23 005 152)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Aug 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s homelessness decision. The complainant appealed the decision to the County Court. Therefore, we have no jurisdiction to investigate.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the outcome of his homelessness application. He said the Council did not consider the suitability of his private rented accommodation. He also disagreed with the Council’s assessment he was not ‘priority need’. He wants the Council to provide him suitable accommodation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
- The courts have said that where someone has used their right of appeal, reference or review or remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council wrote to Mr X at the start of 2022 stating it had assessed his homelessness application but did not consider he had a priority need. Mr X asked for a review. He then appealed the Council’s decision to the County Court. The Court rejected his application because it was late.
- We cannot investigate this complaint further. That is because even though the County Court rejected the application, Mr X has exercised his right to appeal. Therefore, we have no jurisdiction to investigate.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have no jurisdiction to investigate as he appealed to County Court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman