Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s financial assessment which found her son, Mr Y, had to pay a contribution to his care and support. She said he could not afford the amount required. We found no fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about the contribution the Council requires her son, Mr Y, to pay towards his care and support.
2. Mrs X manages Mr Y’s money and says he should have £25 a week left after his outgoings. She would like the Council to be realistic about how much he needs to live on.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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)
4. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended). Mrs X is Mr Y’s mother and responsible for managing his finances. We consider she is a suitable person to bring this complaint on Mr Y’s behalf.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from the Complainant and from the Council.
6. I sent both parties a copy of my draft decision for comment and took account of the comments I received in response.

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What I found

Background

7. Councils have discretion to choose whether to charge for non-residential services. Where a council decides to charge it must do so in line with the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations and have regard to the Care and Support Statutory Guidance (CSSG). 
8. Where the council has decided to charge, it must carry out a financial assessment of what a person can afford to pay. The council must not charge more than the cost it incurs in meeting the assessed needs of the individual. It must also regularly reassess a person’s ability to meet the cost of their care to take account of any changes in their resources.
9. If a council takes a disability benefit into account when calculating how much a person should contribute towards the cost of their care, they must also assess disability-related expenditure (DRE) in the financial assessment.  This is because the Care Act statutory guidance says councils must leave individuals with enough money to pay for necessary disability related expenditure to meet any needs not being met by the council. DRE are costs that arise from a disability or long-term health condition.
10. Councils must ensure that a person’s income is not reduced below a specified level (the minimum income guarantee) after charges have been deducted. The amounts are set out in the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations.
11. The council should provide the person with a written record of its charging decision, explaining how the financial assessment has been carried out, what the charge is, and how often it will be made. That information should be provided in a manner the person can easily understand.

What happened

12. Mr Y received a direct payment for the support he received including personal care, nutrition, attending college and accessing the community.
13. The Council assessed Mr Y’s finances and in December 2019, found Mr Y could afford to pay £53.16; it reduced this to £37.81 when it included Mr Y’s disability related expenditure (DRE). The Council made further adjustments to Mr Y’s DRE allowance and when the annual benefits uplift was applied in April 2020, the amount Mr Y had to pay increased to £40.90. The Council has notified Mrs X that it will increase again to reflect the coming benefits uplift in April 2021.
14. I looked at Mr Y’s financial assessments and found the Council had allowed the minimum income guarantee, which is the £25 per week to which Mrs X referred. It had also allowed for the disability related expenditure (DRE) that Mrs X requested. Although it did not allow for many of the costs proposed by Mrs X, these were not costs I would expect the Council to allow.
15. I found no fault in the Council’s financial assessment and expectation that Mr Y should contribute to his care and support at the rate it assessed.

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Final decision

16. I have completed my investigation and have not upheld Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s financial assessment of Mr Y.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman