The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Discretionary Hardship Payment as there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
Ms X complains that the Council unreasonably refused her request for a Discretionary Hardship Payment.
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 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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X says that she recently started an educational course and was suffering from hardship.
The Council refused the request and, on review, explained that they had refused a similar request from Ms X as they considered her to be living in a property which was at a higher rent than other similar available properties.
The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether you disagree with the decision the organisation made.
I am satisfied that the Council was aware of all the facts and evidence presented to it. I consider that the Council’s decision was based on its own merits and properly reached.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman