The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to award a Discretionary Housing Payment. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant’s father, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision not to award a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to his son (Mr Y). Mr Y wanted a DHP to help with rent in advance and a deposit.
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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.
My assessment
The Council can award a DHP for a deposit and rent in advance to help to secure a tenancy. A DHP can be awarded when someone moves to a different borough. There is no right to a DHP and each application is assessed on its merits.
Mr X says he spoke to the Council, by phone, in 2019 and an officer said Mr Y could get four weeks rent if he moved to another borough. Mr X has not been able to say who he spoke to and the Council has not been able to identify the officer. At this time Mr Y was receiving housing benefit and DHPs. I have seen a document which says Mr Y received a DHP from Brent until 14 February 2021.
Mr Y moved to a different council area in January 2021. Mr Y received DHPs from his new Council from the end of January.
In a complaint response in June 2021 the Council referred to DHPs and said they can be awarded to help people secure tenancies. The Council signposted Mr X to information about DHPs and said it could not prejudge the outcome of any DHP claim Mr Y may make.
Mr Y submitted a DHP claim. He said he needed help because his housing benefit had been reduced due to the benefit cap. The Council rejected the application because he was not living in Brent. Mr X asked for a review. He said he had been told Mr Y would get four weeks rent if he moved. He said he had chased the Council about this payment until being told to apply for a DHP. The Council confirmed its decision not to award a DHP because Mr Y had applied due to the benefit cap and had moved out of Brent in January. The Council noted that Mr Y had received a DHP from his new council from January and had received a DHP for old property until 14 February.
Mr X complained the Council had promised a DHP in June 2021 and referred to the phone call in 2019. In response, the Council said it had no record of the call in 2019 and that in June it had not said Mr Y would get a DHP. The Council confirmed it can award a DHP to help someone move but would not do so in this case because Mr Y did not apply until some time after he moved.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council may have said in 2019 that help was available but there is no evidence about what Mr X asked or what he was told. In any case Mr Y did not apply until about six months after he moved and nowhere in the correspondence does it state he needed help to pay the deposit; and he received help from his new council from January. There is no four week payment when people move, unless they can demonstrate they need a DHP to help them pay the deposit or initial rent. In addition, the Council raised the possibility of Mr Y claiming a DHP in June 21 but gave no guarantee an award would be made.
We are not an appeal body and have no power to award a DHP. I can only consider how the Council processed the application and I see no fault in the way this was done.
Final decision
We will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman