Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application. Part of the complaint is late and carries appeal rights. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the parts of the complaint we can consider. 

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council wrongly decided she was not in priority need and did not assist her to find accommodation under the relief duty and Personalised Housing Plan, including assistance with deposits and rent payments. Miss X also complains of poor complaint handling.  

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. 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)
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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 normally expect people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. Miss X did not complain to the Ombudsman until November 2025. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are good reasons to do so. I have seen no good reasons why Miss X could not have complained about earlier matters sooner. For this reason, I will consider the matters Miss X became aware of from November 2024.
9. The Council decided Miss X was not in priority need in September 2024, after considering medical evidence. Miss X requested a statutory review, and the Council upheld the decision. Even if this part of the complaint were not late, we would not investigate. The review decision carried a right of appeal to the County Court, and it would have been reasonable for Miss X to use that appeal right.
10. The Council accepted a relief duty towards Miss X and issued her a Personalised Housing Plan in June 2024. The relief duty ended in May 2025. Some of this complaint is within time. 
11. The Personalised Housing Plan said the Council would assist Miss X to find private sector housing. I have seen evidence the Council contacted Miss X about private rented accommodation and property opportunities. The Council also advised Miss X about its Self-Help Deposit Scheme, Help2Rent, Homefinder, local housing allowance rates and Universal Credit housing costs. 
12. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the steps the Council took under the Personalised Housing Plan, or in advising Miss X about deposit and rent assistance. I will not investigate this part of the complaint. 
13. Miss X also complains of poor communication and complaint handling. We will not investigate this part of Miss X’s complaint because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not looking at the substantive issues.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. Part of the complaint is late and carries appeal rights. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the parts of the complaint we can consider. 

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman