Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the support provided during while bidding for properties. The injustice claimed is not significant enough to justify investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council did not provide her adequate support while she was in temporary accommodation and bidding for a property. Mrs X complains the Council was unresponsive and communicated poorly when she needed assistance. Mrs X also complains of poor complaint handling.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mrs X was living in temporary accommodation provided by the Council and bidding for properties through the Housing resister. Mrs X was the highest priority band but frequently struggled to access the Council’s system to look at and bid on properties.
6. Mrs X complains the Council’s support worker did not provide her adequate support. She says she frequently struggled to get hold of the Council when she needed support and had to take weekly trips into the Council’s offices due to her support worker not returning her calls. This caused Mrs X significant distress.
7. The Council say the support worker had a sufficient level of contact with Mrs X and Mrs X has now been housed.
8. I recognise Mrs X was distressed by not being able to contact her support worker and that expectations on the level of contact to be expected were not managed. However, the level of contact did not cause Mrs X a significant injustice because it did not prevent Mrs X securing accommodation.
9. We will also not investigate how the Council dealt with Mrs X’s complaint as it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not looking at the substantive issue.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The injustice claimed is not significant enough to justify investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman