The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: There is no fault in how the Council considered risk before placing a temporary occupant next door to Miss X.
The complaint
Miss X complains that the Council failed to complete proper risk assessments before placing temporary occupants in the flat next to hers.
Miss X says she experienced threatening and anti-social behaviour from three different occupants of the property, which led her to feel afraid and unsafe in her own home.
What I have investigated Miss X complains about three placements in the neighbouring property. The Council complained about was involved in the first of these.
The other two placements were made by a different council. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5)) The other council has not investigated Miss X’s complaint and so I have not investigated its actions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended) If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I spoke to Miss X about the complaint.
I made written enquiries of the Council.
Miss X and the Council now have an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.
What I found
Due to the sensitive nature of the subject and the third-party information provided by the Council which I cannot share with Miss X, I have not included any details beyond those necessary to understand my decision.
What happened In July 2020, the Council placed a person in the property next to Miss X’s. I shall refer to this person as the occupant.
Miss X says the occupant behaved in a threatening and harassing way towards her and the other person who lives on the same floor.
In September, the occupant was arrested for this behaviour.
Miss X complained to the Council about its decision to place the occupant next door. She said the Council should have been aware of the risk the occupant would pose to her and her neighbour. Miss X says if the Council had completed a proper risk assessment, it would not have placed the occupant there.
My findings
There is no statutory obligation for the Council to complete a risk assessment before placing someone in temporary accommodation. However, it does have a duty to make sure this accommodation is suitable.
In response to my enquiries, the Council provided evidence to show it asked the relevant agencies to approve the address before placing the occupant there. This is in line with its process for these types of cases.
The Council does not have a specific policy or risk assessment form for temporary accommodation. It would be good practice if it did. But not to have a specific policy or form is not fault.
In this case, the Council took all the relevant information into account before deciding to place the occupant next door to Miss X.
During the placement, Ms X made several reports to the police about the occupant’s behaviour. Ms X says the Council should have been aware of the issues she was reporting.
The Council says it did not receive any information from the police about these reports. I cannot investigate the actions of the police.
Although this placement failed, and Miss X suffered unacceptable and threatening behaviour, this was the result of the occupant’s actions and not fault by the Council.
Final decision
I have completed my investigation. The Council is not at fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman