Kent County Council (23 000 586)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council refused to make a payment to the complainant who is hosting a family under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that the Council has refused to make a payment of £500 to him under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Mr X feels he and his family have gone the extra mile helping the family and that the Council should make the payment in recognition of this.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X and his family hosted a Ukrainian family under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, which allows Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country, with no family ties to the UK, to enter the UK and stay with a named sponsor in their home.
- Under the scheme sponsors like Mr X are eligible for monthly payments as a thank you for hosting. In addition to these payments, the Council also offered an additional payment of £500 to sponsors when they had been hosting a family for over six months and the family were still living with the sponsor at the end of March 2021.
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. Whilst Mr X did host a family for more than seven months, the family moved out of his home prior to the end of March 2023, and he was therefore ineligible for the payment. Because the Council has rejected Mr X’s request for the payment in accordance with its policy, we could not find it to be at fault.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman