Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to respond to Mr X’s application for housing relief. This is because it relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate them now. Further, even if we did exercise discretion, an investigation would be unlikely to result in a worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that he contacted the Council after he was threatened with homelessness, but the Council failed to respond to him.
2. He said he was caused distress and inconvenience by the Council’s actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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. We investigate 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X contacted the Council after he became threatened with homelessness. He explained to a Council officer that he was required to leave his property in September 2022 and the officer sent Mr X a housing application in June 22.
8. Mr X completed and returned the forms, but the Council did not respond. He chased the Council for a response several times between June and August but eventually sought out and found accommodation in another borough in September 2022.
9. Mr X complained to the Council in April 2023 about its lack of response to his housing application. The Council conceded it failed to communicate properly with Mr X and offered him an apology and a £50 goodwill award.
10. Mr X remains unhappy with the Council’s actions and wants us to find the Council at fault. By the Council’s own admission, it repeatedly failed to respond to Mr X’s housing application in line with its process. This is fault. As a result, Mr X likely experienced frustration and upset. However, Mr X went on to find a property without the Council’s assistance and is now under the responsibility of a different borough. The Council has provided Mr X with an apology and a financial award that is in line with our approach. These were reasonable actions for the Council to take. An investigation would therefore be unlikely to provide Mr X with a worthwhile outcome as the injustice he experienced was minimal and he is no longer threatened with homelessness.
11. It is also important to note that the events Mr X is complaining about took place more than 12 months ago. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate matters that took place this long ago unless there are good reasons to do so. As Mr X is no longer threatened with homelessness and lives in another borough there is no good reason to investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate them now. Further, even if we did exercise discretion, an investigation would be unlikely to result in a worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman