The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s accounting for payments for temporary accommodation it provided for the complainant. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise our discretion and investigate.
The complaint
Ms D, an advice centre representative, says for Ms E the Council is seeking recovery of outstanding charges for the temporary accommodation it provided Ms E in 2017.
Ms D says the Council has made accounting mistakes and the charges should have been covered by the housing element of Universal Credit paid to the Council by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). However, the Council has now passed the matter to debt collectors and is threatening to take court action for recovery.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms E.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms E has known about this matter since 2018, and the advice centre has been writing to the Council about it since early 2019 at least. Therefore, the complaint is late and there is no good reason Ms D or her colleagues could not have complained to the Ombudsman in time. It follows there is no reason for us to exercise our discretion and investigate.
It is also the case the Council is not responsible for monitoring or checking payments of Universal Credit the DWP should make. Although Ms D has provided a list of payments she believes the DWP made, the Council has explained any discrepancy between its figures and Ms D’s. If Ms D believes specific payments by the DWP are missing from the Council’s account, it would be open to her to obtain required information from the DWP and ask the Council again to reconcile it.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms E’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise our discretion and investigate. It is also the case the Council is not responsible for ensuring payment of the housing element of Universal Credit and without evidence of specific missing payments there is no Council action to investigate.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman