London Borough of Lambeth (23 016 002)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about Council spending on a social housing estate as this is not within our legal remit.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained money the Council spent from a trust fund on one of its housing estates was wasted and not what residents wanted. Mrs X wants the Ombudsman to take over the fund and to place it into the hands of a community led organisation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
- 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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We cannot investigate this complaint as we cannot investigate the Council’s management of its social housing estates, as per paragraph four.
- In addition, we cannot achieve the outcome Mrs X seeks as we cannot take over the fund or say how it should be administered.
Final decision
- Mrs X’s complaint is not within our remit and so we cannot investigate. Notwithstanding this, we could not, in any case, achieve the outcome Mrs X seeks.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman