London Borough of Enfield

The Ombudsman's final decision

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing allocations. This is because there is not enough fault to justify an investigation, and it would be reasonable for Mrs X to ask the courts to consider some of her complaint.

The complaint

Mrs X complains about the way the Council dealt with her housing register application. She is unhappy with the Council’s decision and says it did not consider all the evidence and did not correctly follow policy or legislation. Mrs X says this has caused mental and physical distress and means her home is unsuitable for her family. She would like the Council to reconsider her application and rehouse her.

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 (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).

The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

How I considered this complaint

I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.

I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

My assessment

We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the way the Council assessed her housing register application. The Council considered Mrs X’s family’s medical evidence and considered the individual needs of family members. As a result, it awarded a low health and wellbeing priority. It explained how it had applied relevant policy and legislation, and why it would not increase the bedroom or toilet need. It also explained why it considered access to the property, using lifts, was suitable.

The Ombudsman cannot question whether a Council’s decision is right or wrong simply because a complainant disagrees with it, unless there is evidence of fault. Here, the Council took Mrs X’s individual circumstances into account and made a decision that was in line with its policy. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision.

We will not investigate Mrs X complaint that the Council interpreted legislation unlawfully. This is because the Ombudsman cannot decide on the legal interpretation of legislation. This is a matter for the courts and it is reasonable for Mrs X to ask the court to decide.

Final decision

We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough fault to justify an investigation, and it would be reasonable for Mrs X to ask the courts to consider some of her complaint.

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman