Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to respond to his reports of legal action taken against him by his private landlord. We will not investigate the complaint because, while there has been some delay by the Council in responding to him, he has the opportunity to provide the Council with further information so it can address his concerns and we would reasonably expect him to do so.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council has failed to respond to his reports of legal action being taken against him by his private landlord. He says it is responsible for him losing his home and that its timely intervention would have halted the legal proceedings for possession of the property taken by his landlord. He seeks compensation from the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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My assessment

6. In June 2021 Mr X contacted the Council in connection with the condition of his privately rented flat. The Council asked for photographs about the issues he had raised and when it did not receive a response it closed the case. It reopened it when Mr X made further contact a few days later.
7. While contact was made with Mr X in August, no note was made in the Council’s records about what was said or the outcome of the conversation and, due to the contact officer leaving the organisation, and another away for personal reasons, Mr X was not contacted again about his case until October.
8. The officer who contacted Mr X in October apologised for the Council’s service and asked if Mr X would discuss his housing situation and the issues he had reported. Mr X advised that he did not want to discuss the situation any further because the effective date of the repossession notice had passed, and he was looking for a new home.
9. In responding to Mr X’s complaint about this matter, the Council explained that the officer had tried to provide the relevant advice and support when he made contact in October but that without further information about Mr X’s history and relationship with his landlord, it could not assess the Council’s contribution to his current circumstances or comment further about it.
10. There was delay by the Council in responding to Mr X and it has apologised for this. If Mr X wants the Council to look further into his allegations that it contributed to him losing his home, he will need to provide further information about his case to the relevant officers.
11. If he does this and, at the end of the Council’s investigations, he remains dissatisfied with the outcome to his complaint, he can complain again to the Ombudsman. However, at this stage, we will reasonably expect Mr X to engage further with the Council if he wants to pursue matters. 
12. In responding to my draft decision, Mr X says he does not know what else he can tell the Council that would enable to it further address matters. However, the Council will tell him what information it seeks. Its delay in dealing with him has been noted but we will not investigate this matter in isolation when we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because, while there has been some delay by the Council in responding to him, Mr X has the opportunity to provide the Council with further information so it can address his concerns and we would reasonably expect him to do so.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman