Council is taken to task over application for housing

Fife Council has been asked to apologise following a blunder in handling a housing application.

Mr C, an advocacy and support worker, complained to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) on behalf of his client, Ms A.

He was unhappy with the housing award Fife Council had given her and wrote to the authority to appeal the decision, providing detailed evidence that Ms A considered proof she met the criteria for a different housing award.

However, the council treated his letter as a complaint rather than an appeal against the housing application.

The ombudsman’s investigation found that while Mr C addressed his letter to the wrong recipient, the council had not communicated clearly with him or his client. It also found that while the council did consider a later appeal by Ms A, it had not taken into account the contents of Mr C’s letter.

Given the authority hadn’t considered all relevant information for the appeal, the complaint was upheld by the SPSO.

Area housing operations service manager Louise Sutherland said: “We’d like to apologise for the way we handled this housing application as it fell short of our usual high standards.

“We have reminded our staff that housing appeals need to be handled slightly differently from complaints about services.

“This was an exceptional case, and we do not anticipate other cases moving forward.”

A complaint made about the council failing to respond to Ms A’s complaint of anti-social behaviour was not upheld since the ombudsman found it had responded appropriately and in line with council policy.