The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision on a homeless application. It was reasonable for Mr X to ask for a statutory review of the decision and appeal to the County Court if this was unsuccessful.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council ending his temporary accommodation following its decision that he is ineligible for assistance under its homelessness duty due to his immigration status.
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 it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.
(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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X applied to the Council as homeless. He was provided with temporary accommodation until his homeless status could be established. The Council later decided that he was not eligible for housing assistance because of immigration control restrictions. The Council’s decision letter advised Mr X of his right to a review of the decision to discharge its homelessness duty. The temporary accommodation was subsequently cancelled.
Mr X was advised to ask for a review within 21 days but he did not do so. The Council says he remained in contact and caused harassment to Council staff which resulted in his being banned from Council offices and a single point of contact being established.
It was reasonable for Mr X to request a review of the Council’s homelessness decision and further challenge it in the County Court if he needed to. It may be possible for him to ask the Council to consider an out of time review even though the 21-day timescale has expired.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision on a homeless application. It was reasonable for Mr X to ask for a statutory review of the decision and appeal to the County Court if this was unsuccessful.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman