Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to carry out a review of its decision she was “not homeless”, which caused her distress. We asked the Council to take appropriate action to remedy the injustice caused. It has agreed to apologise and carry out a review within eight weeks.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council refused to accept she is homeless due to domestic abuse and had not allowed her to appeal its decision, which has caused distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Ms X told the Council she was homeless due to domestic abuse from a relative she was living with. The Council accepted a prevention duty but ended it on the grounds it was satisfied she was not homeless. It said it had no reason to believe she could not continue living at her current address and did not consider she was at risk of abuse at that address. It set out her right to ask for a review.
6. Ms X replied she was unhappy the Council had closed her case, despite knowing that domestic abuse was occurring. She asked it to reopen the case.
7. The Council treated the communication as a complaint. It met with her to discuss her situation, following which it wrote to her to explain it did not consider the behaviours she reported amounted to domestic abuse.
8. Although the Council responded to the concerns Ms X raised, she had a statutory right to a review. If we investigated further it is likely we would find the Council at fault for not carrying out a review in these circumstances. We therefore asked the Council take specific steps to remedy the injustice caused and to prevent recurrence.
9. The Council has agreed to take the following action:
• apologise to Ms X, within one month of this decision, for not carrying out a review. In doing so, it should have regard to our our guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice;
• carry out a review of its decision within eight weeks of the date of this decision; and
• remind relevant staff of the importance of carrying out a review or appeal where service users make a complaint in which they are clearly unhappy with a decision that carries a right of review or appeal.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld the complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused and improving its service for others.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman