The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Ms X’s homelessness application and the suitability of the temporary accommodation it placed her in. This is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application, specifically about her temporary accommodation being unsuitable.
Ms X said this caused her to miss appointments and negatively impacted on her mental health.
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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complained about the way the Council handled her homelessness application and specifically about the temporary accommodation she was placed in being unsuitable. Ms X said it was unsuitable due to its distance from medical appointments she needed to attend, along with other reasons.
In its complaint response, the Council found it caused delay in accepting the relief duty owed to Ms X and for not carrying out a formal suitability assessment for Ms X’s temporary accommodation. These parts of the complaint were upheld.
The Council went on to accept the relief duty, provide apologies and offered Ms X a remedy payment of £450.
On balance, I do not believe an Ombudsman investigation would lead to a different outcome, because the outcome provided by the Council appears to be appropriate. For this reason, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman