London Borough of Bromley (22 010 126)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about a rent advance loan from the Council in 2020. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the Council failing to respond to his request for it to turn a rental loan advance of £1,300 into a grant.
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.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says he asked the Council to consider changing a rental loan which it gave him into a grant in 2020. The Council initially refused but he says an independent reviewer recommended that the loan be changed. The Council later overruled this recommendation and insisted it was a repayable loan.
- Mr X wrote to the Council in September 2020 and asked it to reconsider. When he did not get a suitable response he wrote again in December 2020. He did not raise the matter with us until October 2022 which is outside the 12-month period for receiving complaints. Mr X has used our service previously in 2020 and there is no evidence to suggest that he could not have complained to us sooner.
Final decision
- We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about a rent advance loan from the Council in 2020. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman