The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Council housing register application. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint. Nor is there evidence of material fault in how the organisation made its decision, so we could not question the outcome.
The complaint
Miss X complains the Council did not properly consider her housing application, particularly her medical priority review.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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
Miss X did not agree with the Council’s decision to give her priority band D in 2023. She requested a review, and the Council decided band D was the correct priority for Miss X. Miss X could have reasonably come to us within 12 months. So, we will not investigate her complaint as it is late.
Even if Miss X complained in time, there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigation. The evidence shows the Council properly considered Miss X’s circumstances, so we cannot question a decision it reached properly. It is especially not open to us to consider the weight the Council gave to certain information and decide whether it was correct.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late, without good reason to investigate it now. Nor is there enough evidence of fault in how the organisation made its decision, so we could not question the outcome, even if we were to investigate.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman