The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his housing band allocation. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council failed to consider a medical condition that his wife has when it made its decision for him to remain in housing allocation band ‘B’.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 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)).
We cannot question whether a council’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).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says in 2014, the Council placed him on housing allocation band ‘B’. He says he has two children and is living in an overcrowded house. Mr X also has a wife who has asthma and in 2022, he asked the Council to reconsider his housing band allocation.
The Council reviewed the information and told Mr X that based on the circumstances Mr X had told it about, he was in the correct housing allocation band. Band B of the Council’s allocations policy recognises applicants who need reasonable preference due to medical needs and overcrowding.
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, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
In making its decision, the Council took account of the relevant guidance information from its own housing allocations policy and the information Mr X gave it. It provided Mr X with the correct information after it completed its review. The Council followed the correct procedures when making this decision and I cannot criticise it.
Final decision
We will not investigate the complaint Mr X has made about his housing band allocation. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman