Bedford Borough Council (21 007 641)
Category : Adult care services > Assessment and care plan
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Oct 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s consideration of Miss X’s Disability Related Expenditure. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
The complaint
- Miss X complained the Council did not properly consider her Disability Related Expenditure (DRE) when carrying out her financial assessment.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
- The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X complained that she has to pay too much care contribution because the Council did not consider her DRE properly. The Council has carried out a review of its calculations and state the charges are correct and in line with legislation.
- I have seen insufficient evidence to lead me to believe the Council is at fault. Therefore, we will not investigate Miss X’s complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman