London Borough of Bromley (24 019 388)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Apr 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to end the complainant’s homeless application and its duty to provide housing. This is because the Council’s decision carry review and appeal rights which the complainant could reasonably exercise.
The complaint
- The complainant (Ms L) complains about the Council sudden closure of her homelessness application and duty to provide her housing. In summary, Ms L says the alledged fault threatens her with homelessness and is a cause of significant distress. As a desired outcome, she wants the Council to carry out a review of its decision.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
- 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).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Homelessness decisions made by the Council carry review and appeal rights. The decision to end the Council’s duty to provide housing for instance carries a right of review under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996. This means Ms L can request an internal review by a senior officer of the Council who review whether the decision is correct and issue a further response. If the complainant remains dissatisfied, they make appeal to county court on a point of law under section 204 of the Act. I have reviewed the documents provided by Ms L and note that these review and appeal rights do apply to her. Considering she is asking us to carry out a review of the decision, I consider it would be reasonable for her to seek this from the Council. We will not therefore investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the restrictions I outline at paragraphs two and three (above) apply.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman