Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint about the Council’s errors in the recalculation of his mother Mrs X’s care contributions. The Council upheld the complaint, apologised and amended its process. These are the outcomes the Ombudsman may have sought here had the Council not already provided them.

The complaint

1. Mrs X has been in care for several years. Mr Y is her son and manages her finances. Mr Y complains the Council delayed in confirming the correct figures for his mother’s weekly care charge.
2. Mr Y says he had to spend time and was inconvenienced trying to get the Council to correct their errors on Mrs X’s account. He wants the Council to completely review its financial assessment procedures and give staff better training.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. As part of my assessment I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mr Y;
• issued a draft decision, inviting Mr Y to reply, and considered his response.

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What I found

5. Mr Y submitted his own calculations and the relevant evidence for Mrs X’s account but the Council used incorrect figures over several months, and reached the wrong result. The Council finally reached the same figure Mr Y had quoted at the beginning. Mr Y says he has complained to the Council about similar errors and problems with resolving Mrs X’s care account in previous years.
6. I have sympathy with Mr Y, but I do not consider there is sufficient ongoing injustice here to warrant an Ombudsman investigation. The Council upheld his complaint in full, and apologised for its officers’ errors and for the inconvenience it has caused. The Council has also said it has changed its assessment practices, so the errors identified are less likely to happen.
7. The Council’s apology and change to its practice are in line with the outcomes the Ombudsman would seek in such cases. I consider the Council has provided an appropriate remedy to Mr Y and Mrs X and there is no further outcome for the Ombudsman to pursue here.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has provided the outcomes for Mr Y and Mrs X which the Ombudsman would have sought to achieve.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman