Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about two periods of time in Ms X’s previous property when she had no heating or hot water. This is because the first period between November 2022 and April 2023 falls outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in relation to the more recent period between October and December 2023.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council, who placed her in a property in the area of another council, failed to respond adequately to her reports of a lack of heating and hot water over two separate periods between November 2022 and December 2023. She says because the property was in another council area, she was wrongly directed to that other council and that she should receive compensation.

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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.
3. 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)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to the complaint.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to the part of Ms X’s complaint which concerns the lack of heating and hot water during the period November 2022 and April 2023. As we would reasonably have expected Ms X to have complained to us sooner about this matter, it falls outside our powers to investigate due to the passage of time.
8. With regard to the more recent period without heating and hot water, the Council told Ms X that when it was informed of the problem, it contacted its managing agents who said they had only recently been made aware of the problem by the other council and that a repair was arranged shortly after.
9. The Council said Ms X had been told on a number of occasions to report any issues directly to the managing agents rather than the other council and that the Council, when it had been made aware of the issue, contacted the managing agents within good time and found the matter was already being dealt with.
10. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and while Ms X would clearly have been frustrated by a breakdown in her heating and hot water service, there is insufficient evidence to suggest fault by the Council to warrant an investigation of this matter.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the first period between November 2022 and April 2023 falls outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in relation to the more recent period between October and December 2023.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman