Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about her housing. It was reasonable for Ms X to use her statutory right to request a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation, then appeal to the courts. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in how it considered her priority on the housing register. We will not investigate the Council’s complaint handling separately where we are unable to investigate the substantive matters.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to properly assess the suitability of the temporary accommodation it provided under its homelessness duties and delayed in providing permanent accommodation. She also complained about how the Council handled her complaint.
2. Ms X said these issues had a negative impact on her and her children’s wellbeing. She wanted the Council to carry out a new suitability assessment, reconsider her housing priority banding, apologise, and provide financial redress.

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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
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, 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. 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. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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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. Ms X complained the Council failed to properly assess the suitability of her temporary accommodation. She said the accommodation was overcrowded and was having a negative emotional and social impact on her children.
9. The Council sent Ms X a Temporary Accommodation Suitability Assessment form for completion as part of its consideration of the issues she had raised. If Ms X considered the accommodation unsuitable, she had the right to request a statutory review of its suitability. Had she remained dissatisfied following that review, she would have had a further right of appeal to the county court.
10. We will not investigate this aspect of the complaint because it would have been reasonable for Ms X to use the statutory review and appeals process.
11. Ms X also complained the Council delayed in providing permanent accommodation. The information available shows the Council assessed her long-term housing need as requiring a three-bedroom property and placed her in Band 3 medium priority, in line with its housing allocation scheme. The Council explained that, due to the limited supply of suitable social housing, waiting times are significant and it cannot provide a timescale for when an offer may be made.
12. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in the way it has assessed Ms X’s housing priority. Therefore, we would not be justified in investigating this matter.
13. Ms X complained about how the Council handled her complaint. The Council acknowledged shortcomings in its complaint handling and offered £150 in recognition of this. As we are not investigating the substantive housing matters, it would not be a proportionate use of public resources to investigate the Council’s complaint handling as a standalone issue. In any event, the Council has already provided an appropriate remedy through its own process so we could not achieve a more meaningful outcome.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about her housing. Ms X had a statutory right to seek a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation, with a further right of appeal to the courts. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating the allocation of permanent accommodation, and we will not investigate complaint handling in isolation where we are unable to investigate the substantive issue.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman