Birmingham City Council (21 007 478)
Category : Housing > Managing council tenancies
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Oct 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s response after the complainant reported alleged fraudulent activity by his neighbours. This is because we have no power to investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s response after he reported fraudulent activity by his neighbours. Mr X, and his neighbours, are Council tenants.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.
My assessment
- Mr X contacted the Council to report fraudulent activity by his neighbours. This included fraudulently claiming benefits. In response the Council visited the properties, liaised with the police and made a referral to the counter fraud service. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s allegations about his neighbours.
- Mr X disagrees with the Council’s response. He says his neighbours are spying on him and the Council’s response was a day late. He also suggests his neighbours did not correctly complete the voter registration form; it is not clear how Mr X would know how other people completed these forms.
- I cannot investigate this complaint because Mr X is complaining about the Council’s response, as a landlord, to the concerns he has raised about his neighbours. All the parties involved are Council tenants and Mr X is complaining about tenancy management issues. I have no power to investigate a Council when it is carrying out functions as a landlord.
Final decision
- I cannot investigate this complaint because I have no power to investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord and carrying out housing management functions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman