Summary: The Council’s failure to consider the needs and practicalities of the wider family before agreeing that a proposal by the Borough Council would meet Miss X’s disabled child’s needs was fault. The Council has agreed to complete a new assessment.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council has failed to accurately assess and support her disabled child’s needs for aids and adaptations to their home.
2. As a result, Miss X says their home does not meet her daughter’s needs, putting her at risk of harm and impeding her independence.

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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’. 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)
4. 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

5. I spoke to Miss X about the complaint.
6. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered its response along with relevant law and guidance.
7. Miss X and the organisation had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

County and district councils

8. The area where Miss X lives is a “two-tier authority”. This means that some functions are the preserve of the County Council and others of the Borough Council.
9. The County Council is responsible for Social Care. The Borough Council has responsibility for Housing.
10. The subject of this complaint is the County Council. I refer to it as the Council.

Housing adaptations

11. Miss Y is a tenant of the Borough Council. The Borough Council decides what adaptations to make to its own housing stock. Before the Borough Council will consider a request for a major adaptation, it requires a referral and recommendations from an Occupational Therapist (OT). The OT assessment is done by the County Council.
12. Social care authorities must promote ‘wellbeing’ when carrying out any of their care and support functions. Wellbeing includes the suitability of living accommodation. The Care Act 2014 recognises that suitable accommodation is one way of meeting care and support needs. Prevention is critical to the Care Act, and home adaptations are an example of secondary prevention.
13. Section 23 of the Care Act clarifies the existing boundary in law between care and support and general housing. Where housing legislation requires authorities to provide housing services, they must provide those services under housing legislation. However, this should not prevent authorities working together. The guidance states:

“... community equipment, along with telecare, aids and adaptations can support reablement, promote independence contributing to preventing the needs for care and support. A local [social care] authority may wish to draw on the assistance of the housing authority and local housing services.”

What happened

14. Miss X has a disabled child, whom I shall call Y. Y needs various adaptations to access the home safely and independently.
15. In 2016, Miss X and her children moved into their current property. Before they moved in, the Borough Council adapted the property to meet Y’s needs.
16. However, Y’s condition worsened over time. Between 2019 and 2021, the Council assessed Y and identified further needs:
• A bathroom with enough space for a wheelchair to turn and access from both bedroom and living area
• A bedroom with enough space for a wheelchair to turn
• Wider doors to the ground floor
• Improved access to the rear of the property
• Wheelchair access to the front of the property
17. Initially, the Council recommended that improved access at the rear of the property should be achieved by an extension. However, after meeting with the Borough Council, in March 2021 the recommendation changed to a door at the end of the living room.
18. Miss X says the Council agreed with the Borough Council instead of supporting Y’s needs. Miss X feels that this shows the Council has “capitulated” to the Borough Council. She feels the Council has “abandoned” Y.
19. The Council says the Borough Council is the decision maker about adaptations. As social care authority, it identifies needs and recommends how to meet them but cannot direct the Borough Council to agree to particular adaptations. It says it met with the Borough Council to ensure that any proposed works would meet Y’s needs.
20. Miss X says that the proposed door in the living room would mean that there isn’t enough space for all the furniture the family needs to use the space. If the route to the proposed door were left open for Y in her wheelchair, there would not be space for enough seating for the whole family. Miss X says therefore the rear extension is necessary.

My findings

21. The Council, as social care authority, has responsibility for Y’s needs under the Care Act 2014. However, it is the Borough Council which decides whether to make any adaptations to its properties.
22. At first, the Council’s recommendations included an extension at the rear of the property. The Borough Council said it would not make this adaptation because the property had already been extended and it thought there were other ways to meet the assessed need for access.
23. The Council then liaised with the Borough Council about whether its proposed alternative, of a new door in the living room, would also meet Y’s assessed needs. The Council confirmed that it would.
24. Home Adaptations for Disabled People: A detailed guide to related legislation, guidance and good practice is guidance from the Home Adaptations Consortium. It says at section 7.28 that any assessment should consider the views of the disabled person, and the needs of any non-disabled children in the family.
25. Miss X says that the proposed door in the living room would mean the family could not use the living room. She says its shape and size means that to maintain access for Y to the proposed door, there would be no space for seating for the family. The turning circle needed for Y’s wheelchair and the location of the proposed door would, from the plans I have seen, significantly limit the usable space in the living room.
26. There is no evidence the Council considered whether the alternative proposal would meet Y’s needs as well as the practical realities of the wider family using the space. Failure to do so is fault.
27. In this case, the Council met with the Borough Council several times to discuss the feasibility of the recommendations and whether the Borough Council’s proposals would meet Y's needs. This partnership working between councils is what the Ombudsman expects to see in two-tier authorities.
28. It is for the Borough Council to identify and agree works. However, the Borough Council’s decision is based on the Council’s recommendations. In this case, I am not satisfied those recommendations took into account all the relevant considerations. This means there is uncertainty about whether the Borough Council would have reached a different decision were it not for the fault. This is an injustice to Y and Miss X.

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Agreed action

29. To remedy the injustice to Y and Miss X from the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to:
• Reassess Y’s need for access at the rear of the property, considering the needs of Y and the wider family to use the space.
• Write to Y, Miss X, and the Borough Council with the outcome of this assessment, including an explanation of whether and how the Borough Council’s proposal for a door in the living room would meet Y’s needs
30. The Council should take this action within six weeks of my final decision.
31. The Council should also take the following action to improve its services:
• Remind relevant staff that records should contain enough detail to show how the Council reached a decision that a particular adaptation would meet the identified needs.
32. The Council should take this action within eight weeks of my final decision.

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Final decision

33. I have completed my investigation. There is fault by the Council. The action I have recommended is a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman