London Borough of Lewisham (24 012 891)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Dec 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his homelessness application because it is late.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council did not provide suitable accommodation when he applied for homelessness relief in 2014 and 2018. He says it wrongly assessed him as not having priority needs even though he provided evidence of his health issues.
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 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- This complaint is late because Mr X made the homelessness applications in 2014 and 2018. I do not see any good reason to exercise discretion and therefore will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman