Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Ms C’s belongings and her homelessness. This is mainly because the complaint is late without good enough reason to investigate it now and it is unlikely any investigation could reach a clear enough view now.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s actions concerning her belongings when she and her family were homeless. She also mentions problems with her benefits.

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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)
4. The law says we cannot normally 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)
5. 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and copy correspondence from the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Ms X complains about the Council’s actions on storing her belongings, paying for the storage, and telling the storage company to dispose of the belongings. Those events were in 2016 and 2017. Ms X knew in July 2018 the storage company had disposed of her belongings. She got help from an advice agency to complain to the Council then. So the restriction in paragraph 3 applies.
9. I understand Ms X’s circumstances were difficult then and since. I appreciate Ms X does not necessarily find it easy to explain and pursue her concerns. However, Ms X obviously knew in 2018 she was dissatisfied and she was able to seek help pursuing matters. Ms X could reasonably have continued seeking the advice agency’s help to take the complaint through each stage of the Council’s complaint procedure and then to bring the complaint to us in 2018, or soon after. There are not good enough reasons to accept the complaint so late now.
10. Also, to investigate this complaint now, we would need to reach a clear enough view about what happened and what should have happened in 2016 and 2017. However, the Council’s policies and practices change over time and we would need to understand the Council’s reasoning and how it considered the circumstances back then. There is not a realistic prospect now of reaching a clear enough view, on balance, about events six to seven years ago.
11. Ms X also wants compensation for her lost belongings. This is really a claim that negligence or breach of duty by the Council caused the loss. The courts could consider such matters if an insurance claim to the Council does not bring resolution. So the restriction in paragraph 4 above applies. Ms X was able to seek help complaining to the Council, so she could reasonably have sought help with an insurance claim and court action. There might be a cost to court action, but Ms X might have received help with court costs and could have asked the court for her costs if her claim succeeded. Responsibility and compensation for alleged negligence are not straightforward legally. It is more suitable for the courts than the Ombudsman to decide them. Therefore it is reasonable to expect Ms X to have taken court action when she had that option, or to take it now if she still has the option.
12. Ms X also mentioned problems with her benefits, especially Income Support and Universal Credit. Central government (the Department for Work and Pensions) deals with those benefits, not the Council. So we cannot pursue those points. If the Council did have any involvement with Ms X’s benefits, that, too, would have been around 2016, so Ms X could reasonably have complained sooner and investigation would be unlikely to reach a clear enough view now.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late without good enough reason to accept it now and investigation is unlikely to reach a clear enough view now. Ms X’s wish for compensation is more properly for the courts. The Council was not responsible for the benefits Ms X apparently had trouble with.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman