Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the standard of the property Mr X was placed in following a stay in hospital, or the support offered to him during his eviction. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason for us to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complains her son Mr X was placed into an unsuitable property when he was discharged from hospital in 2022. Mrs Y also complains about the support the Council provided when Mr X was evicted.
2. Mrs X wants her son to be appropriately housed, receive the aftercare he is entitled to, and receive an apology and compensation.

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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 the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X was placed in temporary accommodation in 2022 following his discharge from hospital. He remained in the property until 2024. Mrs Y complained the property was out-of-area, it had damp, mould, no heating, and was not conducive to his recovery.
8. We will not investigate this part of the complaint because it is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion. There is no reason Mrs Y could not have complained sooner about the whereabouts or standard of the property.
9. Mr X was served with a Notice to Quit (NTQ) in 2022. The Council offered alternative temporary accommodation, but as Mrs Y wanted Mr X to remain in the area he was now living in this was refused. The Council later withdrew the offer and provided advice to the family. The accommodation provider did not follow up on the NTQ so Mr X remained in the property. The Council continued to support the family to seek a private rented property and replied to any contact.
10. In 2024 Mr X received a new NTQ. The Council fulfilled its homeless housing duty and offered Mr X settled social housing in the previous area, which he accepted and has since moved in. As this achieves much of what Mrs Y wanted from her complaint to us, we will not investigate as there no further worthwhile outcome we could achieve.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because part of the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it, and we cannot achieve more for Mr X by investigating other parts of the complaint than the Council has now provided.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman