Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s housing situation. We are satisfied with the Council’s actions or proposed actions so have ended our assessment.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly closed his home search account and had not carried out a review of his temporary accommodation. Mr X also complains about the Council’s handling of his resulting complaint.
2. Mr X says this caused distress.
3. Mr X wants the Council to reinstate his home search account and review the suitability of his temporary accommodation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our assessment and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and s34H(1), as amended)
5. We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))

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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. The Council has decided to reinstate Mr X’s home search account and backdated its start date to the date Mr X wanted.
9. The Council is also now reviewing the suitability of Mr X’s temporary accommodation.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. As we are satisfied with the Council’s actions or proposed actions, we have ended our assessment.
11. We will also not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s complaint handling. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we decide not to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are satisfied with the Council’s actions or proposed actions so have ended our assessment.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman