Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the way the Council considered her housing application. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision, and investigation into Miss X’s complaints about staff conduct and reasonable adjustments would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the way the Council assessed her housing application leading to her being unable to apply for the property she needed. She says the Council asked for irrelevant information when reviewing her application. Miss X also says the Council did not make reasonable adjustments to support her communication needs, and reported concerns about the conduct of Council staff.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council reviewed Miss X’s housing application on three occasions and the outcome of each review was that Miss X’s eligibility banding remained the same. The Council have considered evidence in support of Miss X’s application in line with its published policy and I see no evidence of fault with how it made its decision.
7. The Council admitted fault regarding the lack of reasonable adjustments and the conduct of its staff. It has apologised to Miss X and paid compensation to her in recognition of the distress caused. Staff have been spoken to and the Council has agreed to make reasonable adjustments when communicating with Miss X in future. I consider these to be suitable remedies and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council considered her application and investigation into other matters would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman