Darlington Borough Council (21 017 840)
Category : Adult care services > Assessment and care plan
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Apr 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council reducing Mrs X’s direct payments for care. There is not a good reason she did not complain to us sooner.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained the Council reduced her direct payments in 2017 and 2018 for financial reasons without her needs having changed, contrary to the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970. She was not able to pay for the care she needed, and this caused her upset, stress and pain. She wants the Council to compensate her for the missed care up to 2021, at which point it increased again.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X says in 2017 and 2018 the Council reduced her direct payments with no evidence that her needs had reduced. She has provided evidence she complained to the Council in 2017 and 2018, and she says at the time she advised others in similar positions about their rights under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.
- The Council decided in 2021 to increase Mrs X’s care and it also sought funding from the NHS towards this. Mrs X now wants the Council to compensate her for not having provided this level of funding between 2017 and 2021.
- We usually expect people to bring complaints to us within 12 months of the matter they complain about. There was a clear opportunity in 2018 for Mrs X to complain to the Ombudsman when the Council did not uphold her complaint and increase her hours. Mrs X could have complained to us sooner and there is not a good reason for us to use our discretion to investigate this late complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason she did not complain to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman