The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that Mr X was not eligible for a two bedroomed property on the housing register. That is because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council’s housing allocation decision that he was not eligible for a two bedroomed property. He said he and his wife required a two-bedroom property because of his medical conditions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether an organisation’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X and his wife live in a two bedroomed private rental property. Mr X applied to join the Council’s housing register in 2021. The Council assessed Mr X as eligible for a one bedroomed property. Mr X asked the Council to review its decision. He said they needed an additional bedroom because of his medical needs and as he was at high-risk from infection.
The Council wrote to Mr X in November with its final review decision. That decision showed it considered information provided by Mr X, his GP and additional medical evidence. The Council also sought advice from an Independent Medical Adviser.
The Council said based on the evidence provided, Mr X was not eligible for a two bedroomed property. It provided reasons for this and how it had applied its allocations policy to its decision-making.
The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
The Council’s review decision demonstrates it considered the evidence provided, applied its housing allocations policy and explained why Mr X is not eligible for a two bedroomed property on the housing register. There is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council completed Mr X’s review to justify our involvement. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint further.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman