The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to remove the complainant from the housing register. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and insufficient evidence of injustice.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council removed him from the housing register after he updated his application and provided information about his health. Mr X wants the Council to reinstate the application and pay compensation.
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 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))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.
My assessment
People can join the housing register if they have a housing need as defined by the policy. The policy says people must provide evidence to verify their eligibility and qualification to join the housing register. When a parent shares responsibility for a child the policy says they can include the child in the application if they have the main responsibility for the child. This can be demonstrated through, for example, proof of child benefit or a court order. People may have a housing need if they live in overcrowded conditions or if their housing significantly affects a medical condition. People do not qualify for medical priority simply because they have a health condition.
Mr X applied to join the housing register, under the current policy, in 2021. He said he lived in a two bedroom home with three children. The Council accepted the application on the grounds that he was overcrowded and needed another bedroom.
In 2022 Mr X submitted a change of circumstance form and provided information about his health. The Council realised it had made an error in 2021 and had failed to verify the previous application. It had accepted the application even though Mr X had not provided proof sufficient documentation to support then application.
In July the Council removed Mr X from the housing register because he had not provided proof he is a British Citizen and had only provided evidence that he gets Child Benefit for one child. As such, Mr X has no housing need because he lives in a two bedroom home and had only demonstrated he is the main carer for one child. The Council assessed Mr X’s medical evidence and decided it did not show his accommodation affects his health.
The Council says Mr X has submitted a new application and some of the required evidence such as proof of identity.
The Council made an error in 2021 because it accepted Mr X’s housing application without verifying his documents and establishing eligibility. This does not need an investigation because the mistake did not cause an injustice. The error simply meant Mr X spent some time on the housing register when he should not have done.
I will not investigate the decision to remove Mr X from the register as there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The decision to remove him due to not providing the relevant documents or demonstrating he has responsibility for three children, is consistent with the policy so there is no reason to start an investigation. Mr X says he did provide the documents but there is no evidence he supplied sufficient evidence to prove he has the main responsibility for three children or that his home has a significant impact on his health. Mr X is correct to say he had difficulty uploading some documents but they were subsequently uploaded and the review response shows the Council considered the documents he submitted.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman