The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant when she presented herself as homeless, this is because we could not add to the Council’s previous investigation. There is no fault in how the Council subsequently dealt with the complainants request for a transfer on medical grounds.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Miss X, complains about how the Council dealt with her, after she presented herself as homeless. She also complains that the Council failed to properly deal with her request for a transfer on medical grounds.
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, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.
(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
I will not investigate how the Council dealt with Miss X when she presented herself as homeless. The Council accepted there was a six-week delay in contacting her, apologised and offered her £100 to remedy the uncertainty this caused her. It has therefore provided an appropriate remedy for the injustice it caused Miss X and therefore we could not add to the investigation already carried out by the Council.
I will also not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the property she lived in was unsuitable for her needs, and that she should have been awarded a transfer on medical grounds. The Council carried out an assessment of Miss X’s medical needs and concluded that she met the criteria for a high priority need. I am satisfied that the Council considered relevant evidence provided by Miss X in support of her application and reached its conclusions in accordance with its allocations policy. There is therefore no evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with this matter.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot add to the Council’s previous investigation and there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman