The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has not processed the complainant’s housing application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council has not processed her housing application.
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 Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.
My assessment
Ms X applied to join the housing register in October 2021. She did not provide all the information the Council needed to process the application. The Council has tried to ring Ms X many times, and sent emails, but Ms X still has not provided all the required information.
An officer recently spoke to Ms X. He explained what information she needed to supply. Ms X said she would try to obtain the information. The Council will monitor the application and contact Ms X again if she does not send the information.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council has been unable to process the housing application because, despite being contacted by the Council, Ms X has not provided all the supporting evidence. The Council will process the application once it has all the information it needs from Ms X.
Final decision
We will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman