The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council before and during Mr Y’s homeless application. This is because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
The complaint
Miss X complains the actions of the Council resulted in the unlawful eviction of her grandfather Mr Y. She also complains it did not act urgently to address his homelessness.
Miss X says the Council caused Mr Y’s premature death and caused him and his family unnecessary suffering.
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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr Y lived with Mrs Y in a Council property under her name only.
Miss X complains the police wrongly removed Mr Y from the property because of incorrect information shared by a Housing Officer as to Mr Y’s occupancy rights. The Council says it had no involvement in the police actions. However, it has agreed to review its information regarding sole and joint tenancies and provide training for staff to ensure clarity and consistency. I will not investigate because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The Council was notified when Mr Y became homeless and that he was living with a relative. Within 10 days it placed him in emergency accommodation Hotel A. It later moved Mr Y to Hotel B. Mr Y found this unsuitable and returned to Hotel A.
The Council later agreed Hotel B was unsuitable, noting Mr Y moved before it had chance to consider any dissatisfaction. It also offered to cover the cost of the stay in Hotel A.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault causing significant injustice and there is no worthwhile outcome achievable. We cannot say whether any Council actions caused or contributed to Mr Y’s death, and we cannot remedy any distress or harm to Mr Y as he has since passed. The Council has also offered to cover the financial costs incurred.
I note Miss X also complains about a delay in response to a Subject Access Request. The Information Commissioners Officer is best placed to consider how organisations handle requests for information. In the absence of a wider complaint within our jurisdiction, there is not a good reason for us to consider this matter instead of the Information Commissioner.
It is not a proportionate use of our resources to investigate the Council’s complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive matter.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman