Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the information provided by the Council about deferred payment for care. This is because we are unlikely to find fault causing injustice by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Ms N, says that the council did not give her the advice and information that she needed regarding funding her mother’s care, and this led to financial detriment for her mother.

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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’. 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 would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Ms N and I have sent her a draft decision for her comments.

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What I found

4. Ms N is financial attorney for her mother, Mrs O, who is in a residential care home. Mrs O entered residential care as a self funder. However, some time later Ms N realised that Mrs O’s funds running out. She felt that the only way to fund the fees for the care home that the family was most appropriate for Mrs O, was to sell her flat.
5. Ms N told Mrs O’s social worker of her intention. Several months later however, the flat had not sold, and Ms N discussed her concerns regarding funding with the social worker. At this point, the social worker gave her information about the Council’s deferred funding scheme, as a way of bridging the funding gap whilst waiting for the flat to sell.
6. Ms N took further advice, and realised that she could have used the deferred funding scheme from the outset.
7. Ms N complained to the Council, as she said that Mrs O had lost out financially by the delay in taking up the deferred funding option. She felt that the social worker should have given her information about it when she first mentioned her plan to sell the flat.
8. The Council’s response says that it provided the funding information in a pack, when Mrs O first entered residential care, and that the information was also available on its website. It says it has complied with its duty to make information available.
9. The Council further says that the social worker had understood that Ms N wanted to sell the flat in any case, so information about other options was not relevant. It quotes extracts from his case notes which provide some support for his view. However, the Council did agree that it would be useful for service users to be given a fresh funding information pack if their financial circumstances underwent a significant change.
10. Ms N remains unhappy with the response, and disputes the social worker’s accounts of conversations. She has complained to the LGSCO, but I do not propose to investigate this part of the complaint. This is because where two people have conflicting recollections and understanding of a conversation, we cannot arrive at an evidence based view on the matter.
11. I have considered whether there was fault by the Council, and I conclude that it would have been helpful for it to ensure that relevant information is given to service users at the point they are making decisions. It could have given her a further information pack. Additionally the social worker could have checked that she was aware of alternative financial options when she said she was selling Mrs O’s flat.
12. However, I do not consider that that any fault within these actions was a major and direct cause of injustice to Mrs O. This is because as Attorney for Property and Finance, Ms N had a responsibility to read the information that had already been provided, and to seek further information when the situation for Mrs O changed.

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Final decision

13. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because I am unlikely to find fault causing injustice to Mrs O.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman