London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 009 287)

Category : Housing > Private housing

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 29 Oct 2024

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to provide Mr X with home insulation in his flat. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation and we cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to provide him with home insulation in his flat. He wants the Council to pay him up to the £10,000 he believes was on offer to insulate his home, and which he missed out on, so he can find a firm willing to do the work.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:
  • there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
  • any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
  • we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
  • further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
  • we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
  • there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant, including the Council’s response to the complaint.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. Mr X complained to the Council about its failure to home insulate his flat under the Government’s Green Homes Grant (GHG) scheme. The Council explained to Mr X why his property did not qualify for Internal Wall Insulation (IWI) under the scheme and why homes could not be part-insulated. It advised him that the GHG scheme had ended with no further funding available under it but it gave him details of alternative schemes supplying home insulation.
  2. Two of the Council suppliers decided Mr X’s property was not suitable for IWI due to space limitations and the risk of cold bridging. The scheme expired before the Council was able to consider whether it would have been possible to carry out additional works in the flat to allow for insulation works. This is disappointing for Mr X but it is not evidence of fault by the Council. An investigation by the Ombudsman would not achieve the outcome Mr X seeks.
  3. While there was fault in the Council’s handling of Mr X’s complaint, for which it apologised and offered a £50 payment, we will not investigate complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation and we cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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