London Borough of Brent (25 022 516)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the handling of Miss X’s complaint to the Council. The complaint is late and there is no good reason for us to consider it now.
The complaint
- Miss X complains that her complaint of November 2025 was not correctly considered by the Council.
- Miss X said that she has experienced distress, felt unsafe and unsupported.
- Miss X wants the Council to consider her complaint, acknowledge the impact on her health and review the compensation award provided in 2022.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council has a policy which outlines complaints it may or may not consider. Miss X submitted a complaint to the Council in 2022 which it considered and closed at the time.
- Miss X made a new complaint in November 2025. The Council decided that it had investigated the complaint as the issues raised related to the 2022 complaint. In line with its policy, the Council decided it would not investigate the complaint.
- Miss X said this was a new complaint and wanted the Council to provide further compensation. Having reviewed the complaint documents, the issues Miss X raised in 2025 are inseparable from those in 2022.
- Miss X had an opportunity to bring the 2022 complaint to the Ombudsman within 12 months of the Council’s final response, and it was reasonable for her to do so. I see no reason why Miss X could not have done so in this case and so the complaint is out of time.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because it was brought to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after the events of the complaint occurred.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman