Leeds City Council (05C13157)

Private housing grants               Maladministration causing injustice

20 November 2007

Leeds City Council’s faults meant that a seriously ill and profoundly disabled woman was confined to bed in one room of her house for two years longer than necessary. The Ombudsman criticised the Council’s failure recognise its legal duties to the woman and its handling of her disabled facilities grant (DFG) application, and recommends it to pay £6,605 compensation and review its administrative procedures. The Council has accepted all the Ombudsman’s recommendations.

A man (called ‘Mr E’ in the report) complained about the Council’s provision of assistance to his wife, who is profoundly disabled, in particular about its handling of their DFG application.
The Ombudsman criticises the Council’s failure to recognise its duties under Section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act and its failure to have any direct social work contact with the family for over 15 months.

On the handling of the DFG, the Ombudsman finds fault in that the Council:

• delayed in completing a financial assessment;
• failed to review the Grant Section’s stance that a DFG could not be used to provide or retain a family room when legislation says that a DFG can be used for ‘…facilitating access by the disabled occupant to a room used or usable as the principal family room…’; and
• failed to resolve the conflict between what the Grants Section would fund and what the Community Occupational Therapist and the complainant felt was necessary to meet his wife’s needs.

As a result, for two years longer than necessary Mrs E was:

• confined to bed in the front living room of her home;
• unable to use a special wheelchair provided by the NHS that would have relieved her pain and discomfort;
• unable to use a toilet, bath or shower, having to be ‘strip-washed’ on her bed by her carers, adding to her pain and discomfort; and
• unable to sit outside or with her family.

To remedy the injustice, the Council has agreed to:

• pay £6,605 to the complainant;
• establish a mechanism for resolving disputes about what adaptations are required to meet a disabled person’s needs;
• ensure that all relevant officers are aware, and are periodically reminded of, the Council’s duty under section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Person’s Act; and
• produce a report about the lessons to be learnt from the complainant’s experience and the changes it will make to its practice and procedures.

In March 2007 a suitable property was identified for Mr and Mrs E and the Council has agreed to provide a prefabricated ‘pod’ extension with bedroom, toilet and bathroom. The works should be completed soon. Meanwhile the Council has used DFG funding to widen the doors and other work in the present home allowing wheelchair access.

The Council is also setting up an appeal panel to resolve disputes about adaptations, and has invited Mr E to take part in meetings about improving services.

The Ombudsman finds no fault by the Council in handling Mr and Mrs E’s rehousing applications, but comments that, “It is some measure of the extreme pressure on social housing, especially properties adapted to be wheelchair accessible, that all the higher priority cases were in even more difficult situations than the complainant and his wife and that allocations had been properly made to applicants with higher priority.”

Date Published: 28/10/08