The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to ends its housing duty. The Council has agreed to complete a review of that decision. That is a proportionate response to his complaint.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to end the main housing duty towards him. He said it had not completed a review of that decision as he had asked. Mr X said that he lived with his partner and children. He said the temporary accommodation the Council offered before ending that duty did not meet the family’s needs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), 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
If we were to investigate this complaint it is likely we would find fault causing Mr X injustice. That is because the Council failed to consider Mr X’s request for a review of its decision to end the main housing duty. The Council has agreed to complete a review within the statutory timeframes to put this right. Therefore, we will not investigate, as we are satisfied with the action the Council has agreed to take.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by completing a review of its decision to end the main housing duty to Mr X. It would not be proportionate for us to investigate further.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman