Summary: Ms C complains the Council failed to carry out a carer’s (re)assessment of her in 2019, as a result of which she has not received the funds she need to pay for her yoga classes and some employment related training she identified. The Ombudsman found there was no fault in the actions of the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms C, complains the Council failed to carry out a proper carer (re)assessment in January 2019. Ms C complains the Council should not have reduced her carer’s grant from £762 to £300, as this amount is not enough to pay for the yoga she needs and some training she has asked for.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word 'fault' to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’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

4. I considered the information I received from Ms C and the Council. I shared a copy of my draft decision statement with Ms C and the Council and considered any comments I received, before I made my final decision.

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What I found

Relevant legislation / policies

5. The Council says that:
• Its own staff can undertake a Care Act carer assessment if they are the allocated worker for the cared-for person and/or if a carer specifically asks for this.
• However, most of the Council’s Care Act carer assessments are carried out on the Council’s behalf by Carers Support West Sussex (CSWS). The Council has sub-contracted this organisation to carry out carer assessments and administer any “Carer Direct Payments” arising from such carer assessments.
• CSWS can also decide to provide a “Carer Wellbeing Payment”, following a ‘light-touch’ and non-Care Act carer assessment.
• The actual amount awarded varies from person to person based on the impact the needs have on their caring role and wellbeing. CSWS can approve a Carer Direct Payment for up to £400. Above this, it has to obtain approval from the Council. CSWS can also approve a Carer Wellbeing Payment of up to £300 per person.

What happened

6. Ms C lives with her son and is his unpaid informal carer. After a Care Act carer assessment in December 2016, Ms C received a carer personal budget of £624, which she received as a “carer direct payment”. The Council told me that this amount was arrived at to support Ms C to pay for some training in an area of interest to her and with a possibility of finding employment from it. Ms C ended up using this payment for yoga classes, which was appropriate because it supported her to have some time to relax. Ms C received a further one-off payment in 2018 to continue this.
7. A social worker visited Ms C and her son on 30 January 2019, to carry out a reassessment of her son’s needs. The record of this visit says that: “Advised will email Ms C her last carers assessment for her to update if she would like to apply for carer's support fund again as she found the last payment so beneficial.
8. As such, following the visit, the social worker sent an email to Ms C later that day, in which she said: “I attach a copy of your carers’ assessment as discussed. Please could you have a look at it and let me know if anything needs updating, and also confirm what you would like to use the carers’ payment for”. The old carer assessment the social worker sent was from 2018 and therefore still mentioned an old personal budget of £762.
9. Ms C responded the following day by email, which said: “Thank you for your time yesterday and sending my carer review. I would like to continue with the Yoga and hope that I can access the carer's fund for this”.
10. As such, Ms C had responded to the social worker’s second request, by confirming for what she would like to use any payment. However, she had not yet responded to the first request, which was to inform the social worker if anything mentioned in the 14-page document needed to be updated.
11. The Council told me that is important to get an update on the carer’s situation, as it cannot simply presume that no update means that nothing has changed. It can only decide to continue a carer’s payment for another year, after it completes a carer’s reassessment. However, as it did not receive a response from Ms C, it was unable to complete the carer assessment/review.
12. The social worker asked Ms C again for this information on 13 February 2019 in an email, which said: “Just to remind you about your carer’s assessment update (…) the sooner I have the information the sooner I can apply for the funding for you. Ms C sent an email reply in which she said: “I understand that the 'carer's fund' was only available to me twice despite being in existence for some years, I have cancelled the Yoga”. However, Ms C did again not confirm if anything included in the old carer assessment needed to be updated.
13. In response, the social worker told Ms C that: “To the best of my knowledge, you are able to apply for the carer’s payment on an annual basis, but only once in a twelve-month period. I have asked my manager to confirm this is the case and will let you know if I am incorrect”.
14. Ms C did not pursue this further until 19 June 2019, when she contacted the social worker and said: Following my assessment, could I please apply for a Carer's Grant to help cover the £20/week charge. This pays for Yoga, which is of great help. If you could forward the form to apply, it would be appreciated.
15. Ms C told me the Council subsequently told her it no longer deals with this, and that she should contact a charity called Carers Support West Sussex instead. She says the Council also told her she would only get up to £300.
16. The Council explained to me that, by that time, the social worker was no longer the allocated social worker of Ms C’s son. She therefore told Ms C she would forward Ms C’s email to the ‘Duty desk’.
17. It subsequently appeared there may have been a misunderstanding between the Council and Ms C. Ms C believed the Council had completed the carer assessment in January 2019 and it should therefore now provide her with the funds she had asked for. However, the Council explained to Ms C it had not been able to complete this, because she had not told the social worker if / how her old carer assessment needed updating.
18. The Council explained to Ms C in an email on 25 June 2019, that she would need to have a carer assessment by CSWS to determine if she has eligible needs as a carer and what the personal budget should be to meet those. The Council completed a referral to CSWS the same day.
19. A CSWS officer told Ms C on 2 July by email that. “I have been allocated your Carers Assessment, on behalf of WSCC Adult Services, who completed your last one in January 2018. I work for the Carers Support West Sussex Carers Assessment Team. We have the contract to complete Carers’ Assessments for Adult Services (Social Services). While your previous assessments were completed by your son’s social worker, it is usual practice for us to do them. The One-Off Direct Payment would be looked at as part of that assessment and is granted within a financial framework that takes into account your needs identified at this time, as a result of your caring role. This means that the One-Off Direct Payment may not be the same amount as you received before. Would you like to go ahead with the assessment? I can ring you later today or come out and see you?”
20. However, Ms C turned down this offer and insisted the Council had already assessed her needs in January 2019. A CSWS manager called Ms C on 20 July to try and clarify the situation. The note of the conversation says that: “Ms C initially said she was happy to speak to the manager. But during the call became quite angry. The manager tried to explain the situation and engage Ms C in having a carer assessment, but this was refused and Ms C ended the call.’ As such, CSWS told Ms C the following day that it had now ended its involvement.
21. Ms C remained unhappy with the situation, as a result of which the Council told Ms C on 5 August 2019 that it could, as an alternative to CSWS, refer her for “an in-house Carers Assessment as part of her son’s transfer to the Lifelong Services Team” (LST). This meant that once her son’s case had transferred to LST, and her son had been allocated a new social worker, Ms C could have a carer assessment from the new social worker.
22. Ms C told the Council on 7 August that she did not propose any changes to her carer assessment, because there were no changes to report. She asked the Council on 20 August, if she could get a grant to do a specific training that could result in a possibility for paid employment.
23. Ms C complained to the Council on 29 August 2019, that her son’s previous social worker had failed to explain that the “carers support grant” was only up to a maximum of £300, which was less than she had received before. The Council told Ms C the following day that it had provided a sufficient response to her complaint and she should now refer her complaint to the Ombudsman.
24. There was a delay by the Council in transferring her son’s case to its Lifelong Services Team, which eventually took place in September 2019.
25. Ms C met with the Council on 17 September and 11 November 2019. The purpose of the meetings was to discuss any problems and concerns that Ms C wanted the Council to solve. The minutes of the meetings show there were discussions about a range of issues, including improving respite care arrangements in place to give her a break from caring. However, Ms C did not mention that she would like the Council to carry out a carer assessment and/or mention payments she would like to have for yoga etc.
26. The Council told me Ms C can have a carer’s assessment from her son’s allocated social worker, if she wants one. The Council has since carried out an annual review of the care package of Ms C’s son at the end of February 2020, during which it has also carried out Ms C’s carer’s assessment.

Assessment

27. I did not find fault, that the Council did not provide Ms C with a Carer Direct Payment after their meeting in January 2019 and their subsequent email correspondence. The Council explained to Ms C she needed to confirm if her old carer assessment needed to be updated, which she did not do at the time.
28. When Ms C got back in touch with the Council in June 2019, the Council explained this to Ms C and said she would need to have a carer’s assessment by CSWS if she wanted to access any funds. However, Ms C did not take up this offer. In general, carer assessments do not involve a lot of work on the part of a carer and can often be completed within one home visit.
29. It appears that it may not have been clear to Ms C what different types of payments are available to support carers. For instance, Ms C referred in an email of 29 August 2019 to a “Carers Grant” up to a maximum of £300, which was less than the amount she had received in the past following a carer’s assessment. However, there is actually only a:
• “Carer Wellbeing Payment” of up to £300, which the CSWS can allocate following a ‘light-touch’ non-Care Act carer assessment.
• Carer Direct Payment, which can be allocated following a more comprehensive Care Act carer assessment, which is mostly carried out by CSWS. This does not have a £300 limit.
30. However, I found that the Council and CSWS provided an appropriate amount of information to Ms C in June and July 2019. In general, it is good practice to ensure that all those involved with adult social care, consistently use the same terminology and explain the difference between the two different payments at the earliest opportunity.
31. As an alternative, the Council offered Ms C that she could have a carer assessment after her son’s case had been transferred to LST. However, when the Council discussed with Ms C in September and November what support she and her son would need going forward, she no longer raised a carer assessment or funds for yoga and training as an issue. Although it did not amount to fault, it would have been good practice in this case, if the Council had specifically clarified with Ms C if she still wanted a carer assessment.
32. The Council has since carried out a carer’s assessment in February 2020.

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Final decision

33. For reasons explained above, I decided not to uphold Ms C’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman