Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to make a payment as it agreed, related to a property he leased to the Council. The Council has now agreed to make the payment, apologised and offered an additional payment for the inconvenience and distress caused by the delay. An investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome or achieve anything more.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to make a payment to him that it agreed in May 2025, related to a property he leased to the Council. He also says it has failed to respond to his contact about the matter. He says this has caused distress and financial hardship.

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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 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In its complaint response, the Council accepted that it had not made the agreed payment in May 2025 or responded to his contact about the matter between June and August 2025. It apologised to him for this. It explained that the housing service was going through several changes at the time which could account for his case being missed. It said it had since reviewed its processes and introduced new measures to ensure there was more oversight of cases and to prevent a similar situation recurring.
6. It said it would now make the payment and offered him an additional £250 to acknowledge the distress and inconvenience caused.
7. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has accepted fault and agreed to make the payment to Mr X. The additional offer of £250 is a suitable remedy for the additional frustration and distress caused. It has also acted to improve its service going forward. It is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome or achieve anything more.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome or achieve anything more.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman