Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to withhold part of a refund to pay money the complainant owed to the Council. This is because the housing service decided to withhold part of the refund and the Ombudsman cannot investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains that the Council withheld part of a refund. She wants the Council to pay the refund in full.

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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 complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I established the decision had been made by the housing service. I considered comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Ms X paid her rent while waiting for her Universal Credit to be assessed. When the Universal Credit was awarded the Department of Work and Pensions paid money into Ms X’s rent account to help her pay her housing costs. The payment meant that Ms X had a credit on her rent account of £7907.
6. The Council gave Ms X a refund of £5993. It kept £1913 for money Ms X owed to the Council. This was money she owed on rent on previous properties and for a garage.
7. Ms X disagrees with the decision to withhold some of the refund. She wants to make a separate payment arrangement for the debts but to receive the full £7907. She says the Council did not tell her about the refund policy.

Assessment

8. I cannot start an investigation because it was the housing service which decided to keep some of the refund. It was also the responsibility of the housing service to tell Ms X about the refund policy. The law says the Ombudsman cannot investigate any complaint about a council when it is acting as a landlord and making housing management decisions. The decision to withhold some of the refund was a housing management decision so I cannot start an investigation.

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Final decision

9. I cannot start an investigation because I have no power to investigate a council regarding housing management decisions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman