The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council considered Mr X’s housing appeal. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to reassess his housing application and downgrade his priority banding from Band A to Band B. He said the Council then sought additional information from his landlord to present to the appeal panel. Mr X believes the Council has targeted him because of his ethnicity.
Mr X said the Council’s actions had caused his family inconvenience and distress. He wants the Council to acknowledge its wrongdoing and offer financial compensation for the distress caused.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council’s Housing Allocations Policy states it reviews all applications periodically. It completed a review of Mr X’s application and moved him from Band A to Band B. Mr X appealed that decision.
Mr X subsequently complained the Housing Officer who reassessed his application had contacted his letting agent for information after he had submitted his appeal. He said that went against the Council’s appeals procedure and the Housing Officer should not have been allowed to seek evidence after they had made their housing decision. He said the Council’s contact with the letting agent could place his tenancy at risk.
The Council did not uphold his complaint. It explained the Housing Officer had a responsibility to ensure that all relevant information was available to the review panel. It said that Mr X had consented to the Council making enquiries relevant to his application when he joined the housing register.
There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our investigating Mr X’s complaint further. The Housing Officer’s email to the letting agent indicates they had previously contacted it about the requested information. Therefore, there is nothing to indicate they were obtaining new evidence for the appeal panel. In addition, the appeal panel decided to reinstate Mr X’s Band A priority on the housing register. Therefore, I do not consider the Council’s actions in relation to the appeal have caused him a significant injustice.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman