Summary: Mrs B says the Council wrongly refused to accept her request for a review of its decision on her homeless application when she put a request in on time. There is no fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs B, complained the Council:
• wrongly refused to accept a request for a review of its homelessness decision when she put it in on time; and
• in considering her request for a review, failed to consider her circumstances.
2. Mrs B says the Council’s actions led to her and her family becoming street homeless.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. 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)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and Mrs B's comments;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided.
7. Mrs B and the organisation now have an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Homelessness code of guidance (code of guidance)

8. Paragraph 19.2 of the code of guidance says applicants have the right to request the housing authority review their decisions on homelessness cases in some circumstances.
9. Paragraph 19.4 says an applicant must request a review before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which they are notified of the housing authority’s decision. The housing authority may specify, in writing, a longer period during which a review may be requested.
10. Paragraph 19.37 says an applicant who has requested a review can appeal on a point of law to the county court if:
• (a) they are dissatisfied with the decision on a review; or,
• (b) they are not notified of the decision on the review within the time prescribed in regulations made under section 203.

What happened

11. Mrs B made a homeless application to the Council. The Council wrote to Mrs B on 8 July 2024 to tell her it did not have a duty to provide her with accommodation as it considered her intentionally homeless. That letter told Mrs B about her right to request a review of that decision within 21 days and about her appeal rights.
12. Mrs B says she asked for a review in July 2024. Mrs B says she posted that letter to the Council. Mrs B does not have any evidence of posting. The Council says it did not receive any request for a review until 7 August.
13. Mrs B approached another local authority on the day the Council removed her and her family from the temporary accommodation it provided her with. That local authority contacted the Council on 2 August. The note from that contact shows the other local authority told the Council it did not intend to accept a duty to house Mrs B but would complete a safeguarding referral for the children. The Council also sent a safeguarding referral to the County Council which contacted Mrs B. The County Council then told the Council about the discussion it had with Mrs B.
14. The Council wrote to Mrs B about her review and said it had decided not to accept a review out of time. The Council explained it did not accept the review as it did not consider there was any substantive reason which prevented Mrs B asking for a review within 21 days. The Council also said it did not consider the merits of her cases deserving of an out of time review.

Analysis

15. The Ombudsman will not normally consider a complaint about a council refusing to accept an out of time review request for homeless decisions. That is because the homeless applicant has a right of appeal to a court about that decision. In this case though I have decided to exercise the Ombudsman’s discretion to investigate the complaint. That is because by the time of the complaint to the Ombudsman another local authority had already accepted a duty to house Mrs B and provided her with accommodation. In those circumstances an appeal to the court was not needed as Mrs B no longer wanted accommodation in the Council’s area.
16. Mrs B says the Council unreasonably refused to accept her request for a review when she had put it in on time. Mrs B says she put in her request for her review by post in July 2024 which was within 21 days of receiving the Council’s letter telling her it had found her intentionally homeless. Mrs B does not have any proof of posting but says she posted another letter at the same time and the recipient received that letter.
17. The Council is clear it did not receive a request for a review from Mrs B in July 2024. As the Council does not have any record of receiving a request for review within 21 days and Mrs B does not have proof she sent the Council a request for review in July 2024 I cannot criticise the Council for deciding not to accept the review request as out of time.
18. In reaching that view I recognise Mrs B says another local authority contacted the Council on her behalf and the Council told that local authority it would accept an out of time request. I have found no evidence to support that allegation. The Council has provided details of a note from its discussion with the other local authority. That does not show any agreement to accept an out of time review. I therefore have no grounds to criticise the Council.
19. Mrs B says in refusing her request for a review the Council failed to consider her circumstances. The evidence I have seen satisfies me though Mrs B said in her review request she had put in a review request on time. I have seen no evidence Mrs B gave the Council details of her reasoning for not putting in the request on time. As I said earlier, the Council does not have any record of a review request received within 21 days of its decision on Mrs B’s homeless application. I therefore cannot criticise it for the decision reached.
20. Mrs B says the Council failed to explain to her children’s services duties towards children who are homeless. As Ipswich is a Borough Council it does not have a children’s services department. Children’s services instead falls under the County Council. I am satisfied the Council made a referral to the County Council at the end of July 2024, which is what I would have expected it to do. I am also satisfied the County Council told the Council it had contacted Mrs B and outlined what it had discussed with her. As I am satisfied the Council made the referral to the County Council which then spoke to Mrs B I have no grounds to criticise it.

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Final decision

21. I find no fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman