Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the advice the Council provided to the complainant about his benefits. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the advice the Council’s welfare rights unit (WRU) provided to him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered the WRU case notes and the letter the Council asked Mr X to sign. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. The Council’s WRU started helping Mr X with his benefits in July 2018. The Council says it successfully helped him to claim a benefit and win an appeal.
5. The Council was helping Mr X with another appeal. The notes say Mr X disagreed with the advice he was given.
6. The notes also state Mr X wanted to send a large bundle of documents to the tribunal. The adviser said this was not necessary and advised Mr X to only send the documents that were pertinent to the appeal. The Council says Mr X would not accept this advice.
7. The Council agreed to send all the documents but also said it would not represent Mr X at the appeal because he was acting in a way which was contrary to its advice. The Council asked Mr X to sign a letter in which he confirmed that he had asked the Council to send the document bundle to the tribunal and that the WRU would not represent him. Mr X says he reluctantly signed the letter.
8. The WRU is no longer assisting Mr X. This is partly because he did not accept the advice and partly because of his treatment of advisers.

Assessment

9. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The notes show the Council provided appropriate advice which Mr X declined to follow. Mr X was not obliged to follow the advice but, equally, the Council is not required to provide advice, or represent someone at a tribunal, if the person has decided not to follow the advice provided. Mr X objects to the letter he was asked to sign but it just confirmed Mr X’s instruction that he wanted to send documents to the tribunal which, in the Council’s view, were not needed for the appeal.
10. I appreciate Mr X may be disappointed that he cannot presently receive advice from the WRU. However, this is a discretionary service and not one that the Council is required to provide. In addition, as the notes state that Mr X disagreed with some of the advice, it is not clear how he thought he was benefitting from the service.

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Final decision

11. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman