The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council did not help the complainant when he said he was homeless. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council did not help him when he reported he is homeless.
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 complainant correspondence and an update from the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council in April and said it had not helped him even though he was homeless. The Council said it could not accept a complaint from him because he had not made a homelessness application. The Council told Mr X how he could ask for help regarding his housing.
The Council told us it did not hear from Mr X again until June and it is now processing a homelessness application. The Council contacted Mr X last week with viewing options.
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. This is because Mr X did not make a homelessness application until June which the Council is now processing.
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