The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a delay by the Council in completing a banding review for the housing register. This is because the Council has provided an appropriate response and there is not enough injustice to require an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council did not complete a housing register banding review within 56 days and did not keep him updated. Mr X wants compensation for the delay.
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: the Council has provided a fair response, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and the allocations policy. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.
My assessment
The allocations policy says the Council aims to complete reviews within 56 days and will keep the applicant updated if there is a delay.
Mr X asked for a review in February. The Council issued the review decision on 1 June. The review confirmed Mr X would remain in band two and his banding would not increase.
In response to Mr X’s complaint the Council apologised because the review took longer than 56 days and for not keeping Mr X updated.
I will not investigate this complaint because the Council has apologised for not completing the review within the target time and for not keeping Mr X updated. This is an appropriate response.
I also will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. I appreciate the delay was frustrating but, as the banding was not increased, the delay has not had an impact requiring compensation or an investigation. In addition, if the Council had increased the banding, the higher band would have been backdated to February.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided a fair response and there is insufficient evidence of injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman