Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Miss X having to change her temporary accommodation. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigating the Council telling Miss X to move. On some other points, there is not significant enough injustice to justify investigation. Regarding the suitability of the new accommodation, Miss X could reasonably have used her right to ask the Council for a suitability review.

The complaint

1. The Complainant, Miss X, says the Council made her and her family move to unsuitable temporary accommodation at short notice. Miss X says the Council did not consider her child’s additional needs in its decision. The property was unfurnished and Miss X says this, and the short notice of the move caused her and her child inconvenience and distress.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, 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))

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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. The Council decided to move Miss X from interim accommodation to another interim property. This was because the property Miss X was living in was owned by a third party and a Council-owned property was now available for her. The Council prefers accommodating homeless people in accommodation it owns, where possible. The Council was entitled to make this decision. We are unlikely to find fault with the Council’s decision.
6. Miss X complained about the short notice of the move. The Council gave Miss X three days to move. Miss X asked the Council to extend this timescale which it agreed, giving up to ten days for the move to take place. Interim accommodation is just that, and it can change at short notice. The Council allowed more time when Miss X asked for it. There is not significant enough outstanding injustice on this point to warrant our involvement.
7. The new accommodation was unfurnished and Miss X said she did not have items of her own. The Council’s policy is that all its properties are unfurnished. The Council offered support to help Miss X get furniture and white goods however, Miss X sourced her own. There is not significant enough outstanding injustice here to warrant investigation.
8. Miss X complained the new accommodation is some distance from her child’s school and her support network, making it unsuitable. After three weeks of living in the new accommodation, the Council accepted the main housing duty. The Council explained in a letter to Miss X she had a legal right to request a suitability review of the temporary accommodation. If Miss X had sought a review and had been dissatisfied with the result, she would then have had a further right of appeal to the county court. Miss X did not use her right of review. This right is set out in law and is straightforward to use. We therefore expect Miss X to have used it. For this reason, we will not investigate this part of the complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigating the Council telling Miss X to move. On some other points, there is not significant enough injustice to justify investigation. Regarding the suitability of the new accommodation, Miss X could reasonably have used her right to ask the Council for a suitability review.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman