Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about matters of educational provision, social care assistance and housing. Ms B appealed to a tribunal about the matters of educational provision so this part of the complaint is outside our jurisdiction. The other matters happened in 2022 so complaints about them are late and there is no good reason for us to investigate now. Even if the complaint had been made in time, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Ms B is from another country and has been working in England as a medical professional for over a decade on a visa. Ms B’s children are also living in England. One of her children, Miss C, has a severe learning disability. Ms B and her children were evicted from their home in April 2022 so she went to the Council for permanent housing. Ms B has complained the Council did not help them and she was given conflicting advice about who was responsible for housing them.
2. Ms B also says that she asked for a copy of Miss C’s Child in Need assessment in August 2022 but did not receive this until a month later.
3. Ms B further says the Council have failed to provide a suitable school placement for Miss C.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
6. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the SEND Tribunal in this decision statement.
7. 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)
8. 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

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered information provided by Ms B.
10. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

11. The matters about housing and social care are late. We may investigate late matters if a person was unaware of them at the time, or if they could not reasonably complain sooner. Neither reason applies here. Ms B was aware of the matters she complains of, and she could appeal to the SEND Tribunal. She could have contacted us sooner about matters dating from April-August 2022.
12. Even if the complaint had been made in time, there are other reasons we would not have investigated. Ms B has a Tier 2 Visa and has No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). Ms B would have had to provide evidence that she could support herself and her family when she applied for her visa. Because homelessness assistance is not provided to families with NRPF, Councils can place them in bed & breakfast accommodation. The Council did this for Ms B and her children. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify investigating.
13. Ms B says that she asked for Miss C’s Child in Need assessment at the start of August 2022 and did not receive it until the start of September 2022. It would be best practice to provide this within a shorter timeframe, but a four-week wait for a copy of the assessment would not amount to such a serious failure or significant injustice as to warrant investigation.

Educational provision

14. Ms B has appealed to the SEND tribunal about Miss C’s school placement. This remains in the tribunal arena because a final hearing date needs confirming. Ms B has used her right of appeal to a tribunal so we cannot investigate this matter.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about housing and social care matters because:

• the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now; and
• had the complaint been made in time, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify investigating.

16. We cannot investigate Ms B’s complaint about matters of educational provision because:

• she has exercised her right of appeal with the SEND tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman