The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to help him after he was evicted illegally by a private landlord.
We will not investigate this complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There are no good reasons to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. And even if we did decide to investigate, we have no remit to investigate the eviction sanctioned by a court.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to help him after he was evicted illegally by a private landlord in 2019. He says he lost his home and possessions and was left to fend for himself.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
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 complained to us in August 2022 which is outside the 12-month period for complaining about the incidents of 2019 to us. However, even if he had complained to us in time we would not be able to investigate an eviction carried out. This is because the private landlord obtained a court order allowing the eviction to take place. We are prohibited from investigating matters decided in court.
Final decision
We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman