Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the provision of interim accommodation when she became homeless. The Council accepted a delay in arranging interim accommodation when she first approached it, and has agreed to remedy the injustice to Ms X by making a payment to her.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to offer her interim accommodation when she made a homelessness application. She also complained about the Council’s complaints handling. She said that, as a result of Council failings, she was left street homeless when she was undergoing medical treatment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X asked the Council for assistance in late 2023. She said she had been forced to leave her previous address in another council area due and was currently receiving hospital treatment for a serious medical condition in this Council’s area. As she had not received a response, Ms X contacted the Council’s out of hours service, which arranged hotel accommodation over the weekend, but the booking did not include the Sunday evening.
6. On Monday, Ms R, her representative contacted the Council on her behalf. The Council contacted Ms X and asked her to complete an online homelessness application. It offered to assist her to do so.
7. The Council offered interim accommodation in two hotels in neighbouring boroughs, which Ms X refused because she said hotels were not suitable whilst she was undergoing medical treatment and were too far from the hospital. She said she needed self-contained accommodation with a sterile environment in the Council’s area. The Council explained it had no self contained accommodation available that day. Ms R made a formal complaint on behalf of Ms X.
8. On 1 December, the Council ended its duty to provide interim accommodation because she had refused the hotel accommodation offered.
9. The Council responded to the complaint at stage 1 in early January. It accepted there was an initial delay in offering interim accommodation and that the initial hotel booking did not cover the whole weekend.
10. Ms X was unhappy with the response and asked the Council to consider her complaint further. The Council replied 10 days later. It said officers had considered her medical and financial situation when arranging interim accommodation. It was not under a duty to offer accommodation in its area and had offered a taxi to the out of borough accommodation. It accepted the stage 1 complaint response was late and some of the content was not appropriate, for which it apologised. An apology was an appropriate remedy for the complaints handling failures.
11. Based on the information seen so far, if we investigated it is likely we would find fault causing injustice to the complaint on the basis there was a delay in arranging interim accommodation and the initial booking did not include the Sunday night. This means Ms X was without accommodation for four nights. We therefore invited the Council to pay Ms X £200 to remedy the injustice caused within one month of the date of the final decision, and it agreed to do so. This payment is in line with our guidance on remedies, available on our website.
12. Although Ms X was unhappy with the hotel accommodation the Council later offered, the Council considered her medical and financial situation when deciding it was suitable for her. Accommodation may be suitable in the short term that would not be suitable for a longer period. It is unlikely that we could achieve a different outcome by investigating this aspect further.

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Final decision

13. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Ms X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman