The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council responded to a referral to its Welfare Rights Service. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s actions.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council’s Welfare Rights Service. He said it failed to respond to his referral and delayed his Blue Badge application. He also said it delayed his benefits application which cost him £1400 in lost benefits.
Mr X wants the Council to admit its procedures are not fit for purpose and provide a financial remedy.
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: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or 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
Mr X complained the Welfare Rights Service did not make reasonable attempts to contact him following a referral for support to make a Blue Badge and a benefits application.
The Council completed an investigation into Mr X’s complaint. It reviewed its case records and said these showed several attempts to contact him by telephone using the contact details on the referral form. It confirmed it sent him a letter. It could not comment on why Mr X did not receive that letter. It said it was the referring agency’s responsibility to ensure that contact details were correct.
We will not investigate this complaint. The Council contacted Mr X using the contact details provided in the referral. It was not the fault of the Council the telephone number provided was incorrect. When it received a further referral, the Council contacted the referring agency and explained it had previously tried to contact Mr X without success. The referring agency provided different contact details for Mr X and the Council contacted him without delay. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
In it’s the complaint response, the Council said following Mr X’s complaint, it had reviewed the process followed by the Welfare Rights Service for new referrals. It said where it could not contact the person being referred, it would email the referrer for advice. This service improvement prevents a recurrence of the issue Mr X experienced happening again. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman