The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that the complainant’s child cannot be included as part of his housing application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council wrongly assessed his housing application and will not include his child as part of the application. Mr X wants the Council to include the child and allow him to bid for two bedroom properties.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and the lettings policy. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
The lettings policy says a child can only be treated as having one main home in assessing eligibility for the housing register. If a couple have separated and a child lives with both parents, the Council will assess the evidence and decide where the child lives as their main home. If someone applies to add a child to their application the Council will decide if the child lives with the applicant as their main home.
Mr X has a housing application. He lives in a one bedroom home. Until November 2022 he was registered for a two bedroom home because the Council decided his child lived with him as their main home. Mr X had supplied evidence to support the inclusion of the child.
In 2022 the Council reviewed all the evidence, including evidence from the child’s mother, and decided the child lives with the mother as their main home. The Council removed the child from Mr X’s application.
Mr X disagrees with the decision. He says the child lives with him and this has been confirmed by the mother. He says he supplied evidence to support the application and the Council is discriminating against him by refusing to accept the child lives with him.
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The policy says a child can only be treated as having one main home and the Council will make that decision based on the available evidence. The policy also says that information contained in a court order does not mean the Council must accept a child as living with a specific person. The Council assessed a range of evidence, provided by Mr X and the child’s mother, and decided the child lives with the mother as their main home. Due to data protection I cannot disclose the information provided by the mother but I can confirm the Council’s decision flows from the evidence. I appreciate Mr X disagrees with the decision but I see no fault in the way the Council made the decision. We are not an appeal body and it is not my role to decide where the child lives or whether they should be included in Mr X’s application.
I see nothing to suggest the Council has discriminated against Mr X because the decision flows from the evidence and the policy.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman