Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint the Council provided unsuitable accommodation after she fled domestic abuse. That is because this complaint has not exhausted the Council’s complaint procedure and is late. We will also not investigate her complaint about rent charges for her temporary accommodation. The Council amended the tenancy date and agreed to review the charges. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council placed her in unsuitable accommodation after she fled domestic abuse. She said she then received threats from neighbours whilst living in temporary accommodation which meant she had to return to her ex-partner. She said the Council incorrectly continued to charge her rent on the temporary accommodation despite her giving notice she had left.
2. Miss X said the Council’s actions had caused health to deteriorate. She wants the Council to apologise, complete staff training, and pay her compensation for the distress caused.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
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 the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the suitability of accommodation the Council provided when she first fled domestic abuse. Miss X has not complained to the Council about the suitability of the temporary accommodation, or the support provided. We expect a person to exhaust the Council’s complaint process before we will consider the matter. It is reasonable for Miss X to complain to the Council if she is unhappy with how it supported her after she had to leave her temporary accommodation.
9. However, even if she does complain to the Council about the early parts of her complaint, it is unlikely we would investigate these. The information provided by Miss X indicates the events she complained of occurred more than 12 months ago. We expect a person to complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter. Therefore, the complaint is late, and there is no good reason to exercise our discretion to consider it now.
10. Miss X’s complaint about the Council incorrectly charging her for rent after she had given her notice is in time. The Council responded to that complaint in May 2024. It confirmed it had changed the tenancy dates and would recalculate any rent and benefits. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman