The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to repairs reported in temporary accommodation. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Miss X complained about the Council’s refusal to replace flooring in the temporary accommodation where she lives. She says a tradesman advised her that the floor tiles needed replacing when he carried out a temporary repair.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X says she was contacted directly by contractors to carry out some regular repairs in her temporary accommodation. She believes this should have been done through the Council’s management agency. When the contractor arrived, he carried out a repair and also remarked that the floor tiles were in need of replacement and glued a loose tile back in place. When Miss X asked the agents about replacing her flooring they knew nothing about it.
The floor was later inspected and the Council told her that its agents said the floor was repairable and would not be replacing it.
The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
The Council arrange for repairs to be carried out to the property and it is for the Council to decide if something can be repaired rather than replaced. The repairing duty does not include improvements to temporary accommodation.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to repairs reported in temporary accommodation. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman