Summary: We have partly upheld this complaint as the Council failed to notify Mrs Y of her right to appeal to the county court against its decision that her temporary accommodation was suitable. The Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by apologising to Mrs Y and making a symbolic payment to acknowledge the injustice caused. We will not investigate other aspects of Mrs Y’s complaint as it is reasonable to expect her to go to court and any fault by the Council will not have caused enough injustice to justify an investigation of her complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains on behalf of Mrs Y. Mr X complains that the Council:

• Provided unsafe and unsuitable temporary accommodation to Mrs Y and her family which was in disrepair and in a dangerous location.
• Provided further temporary accommodation that did not meet her mobility needs.
• Made a false allegation that a child was missing from Mrs Y’s property which she considers amounted to harassment.
• Failed to properly investigate Mrs Y’s complaint.

2. Mr X says that as a result Mrs Y and her family’s physical and mental health have been affected as they have lived in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary. Mr X says the Council’s actions have also caused distress to Mrs Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• 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))

4. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mrs Y made a homelessness application and the Council accepted the main housing duty. In 2024 the Council offered property A as temporary accommodation to Mrs Y and her family. Mrs Y considered the property was unsuitable due to disrepair and risks to her children. She requested a review of the suitability of the accommodation.
9. The Council considered Mrs Y’s review request but remained of the view that property A was suitable. The Council wrote to Mrs Y explaining its reasons for the decision. It did not notify Mrs Y of her right to appeal to the county court on a point of law.
10. The evidence provided by Mrs Y shows she started a legal disrepair claim against the Council regarding the disrepair in property A. The Council later offered property B as alternative temporary accommodation.
11. Mrs Y accepted property B and then requested a review of the suitability. The Council carried out the review and decided that property B was unsuitable.
12. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint about the suitability of property A and B. This is because Mrs Y had a statutory right to request a review of the suitability of the accommodation and she exercised that right.
13. But if we were to investigate how the Council told Mrs Y about her appeal rights, it is likely we would find fault causing injustice to Mrs Y. This is because the Council’s letter notifying Mrs Y of its suitability review decision for property A failed to notify her of her right to appeal to the county court against its decision. As a result, Mrs Y lost her opportunity to appeal to the county court against the Council’s decision that property A was suitable. We cannot know, even on balance, what the outcome would have been if the Council had notified Mrs Y of her right of appeal. But Mrs Y will have been caused some uncertainty.
14. We therefore asked the Council to remedy the injustice to Mrs Y by sending a written apology and making a symbolic payment of £150 to her to acknowledge the loss of opportunity and uncertainty caused. The Council agreed to take this action.
15. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint about disrepair in property A. Mrs Y started a legal disrepair claim. So, it was reasonable to expect her to pursue that claim through the court.
16. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint about the Council investigating whether a child was missing from her property. We understand the Council visited Mrs Y but it did not take any action. So, any fault will not have caused significant enough injustice to justify an investigation of this complaint.
17. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint about how the Council investigated her complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures when we are not investigating the substantive issues.

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Agreed Action

18. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to:

• Send a written apology to Mrs Y for the loss of opportunity and uncertainty caused to her. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology we have recommended.
• Make a symbolic payment of £150 to Mrs Y to acknowledge the loss of opportunity and uncertainty caused by the failure to notify her of her right to appeal to the county court.

The Council will take this action within four weeks of this final decision.

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Final decision

19. We have partly upheld Mrs Y’s complaint and the Council has agreed to resolve it early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to her. We will not investigate the other aspects of Mrs Y’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman