The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s priority on the housing register. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, says the Council has ignored the evidence that she qualifies for band B on the housing register. She wants the Council to move her from band C to B.
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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and the evidence Mrs X submitted. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mrs X made in reply to a draft of this decision.
My assessment
The allocations policy says that when someone’s housing situation is seriously affecting their health the Council will place them in band C on the housing register. People qualify for band B if their health is severely affected such that they are completely housebound or unable to live independently. The Council may award band B for disrepair when an Environmental Health Officer has inspected the property and found serious issues and no remedial action is possible. A request to move due to harassment would need to be supported with detailed evidence about the harassment and police involvement and details of what had been done to deal with the harassment and the outcome.
Mrs X joined the housing register in 2016. The Council placed her in band C for health reasons. Since then Mrs X has made several requests to be upgraded to band B. Mrs X has submitted more medical evidence and said her house is in serious disrepair because it is not possible to do some adaptations such as fitting a stair rail. She also submitted a letter from Victim Support saying she had experienced harassment.
The Council reassessed Mrs X’s application several times. It considered the additional evidence she submitted but decided she should remain in band C. It explained that band C recognises her current accommodation has a serious impact on her health but there is nothing to suggest she would qualify for band B for health reasons. The Council also explained that Mrs X would not qualify for band B due to disrepair because she had not submitted evidence that an Environmental Health officer had found serious hazards which cannot be fixed. The Council explained that Mrs X had not provided any detailed information about the harassment or any information from agencies such as the police.
I will not investigate this because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. I have considered the allocations policy and the information and evidence submitted by Mrs X. The Council’s decision that Mrs X qualifies for band C flows from the evidence, and is consistent with the policy, so there is no reason to start an investigation. The Council has not ignored Mrs X’s evidence but has considered it in conjunction with the policy.
We are not an appeal body and it is not my role to decide what band Mrs X should be in. I can only consider how the Council has processed the application and I see no suggestion of fault in the way it has done that.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman