The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council giving housing to another person. There is not significant enough direct injustice to Mrs X to warrant investigation.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about the Council’s alleged involvement in another person receiving housing that Mrs X believes the person was not entitled to under the Council's housing allocation rules.
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 or continue an investigation if we decide any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and copy correspondence from the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
As paragraph 2 said, we will not investigate a complaint just because there is an allegation the Council was at fault. We will only investigate if the alleged fault caused the person complaining a significant enough direct injustice to warrant investigation by the Ombudsman.
Here, even if the other person should not have that particular property, or any property, there is no direct significant disadvantage to Mrs X. Even if the other person had not got the property, it would not automatically follow that Mrs X’s own housing situation would have been handled differently. Anyway, the Council’s handling of Mrs X’s own housing is the subject of a separate complaint from Mrs X, which we will deal with on its own merits. This current complaint that I am considering is just about the Council’s alleged involvement in the other person’s housing.
Mrs X might well feel indignation from believing someone else received something they should not have. That is not a significant enough injustice in practical terms to warrant the Ombudsman devoting time and public money to pursuing the complaint.
Any allegation that a housing applicant, or anyone at the Council, acted fraudulently on a housing application is an allegation of a criminal offence. It is not the Ombudsman’s role to investigate alleged crimes.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman