The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mrs X complained about the Council’s assessment of her housing application. She says she submitted a medical assessment request and did not receive a response.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X says she believed she should have a higher priority for her housing application because of medical reasons affecting her family. She had made previous requests for medical priority but they were unsuccessful. She provided new medical information supporting her case to the Council in November 2023.
In early January 2024 she complained to us because she had not received an outcome for the medical review, although this was within 8 weeks of making the request which is seen as a reasonable time for determination. We made enquiries of the Council and it sent us a copy of the review decision which was issue don 16 February.
The review was upheld and in this case Mrs X’s priority was increased to Band C based on her current housing needs. This was a successful outcome for Mrs X and the review procedure increased her priority backdated to 2021 which is when she applied. If she remains dissatisfied with the outcome she may seek a further statutory review of her banding under s.166A of the Housing Act 1996.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman