Summary: Mrs X complained on behalf of Mr Y. She complained about the Council’s delay in assessing Mr Y’s care and support needs. The Council was at fault for the delays with completing Mr Y’s care needs assessment and delays with providing him with the appropriate provisions agreed in his support plan. This caused injustice to Mr Y and Mrs X. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained on behalf of her young adult, Mr Y.
2. Mrs X complained about the Council’s delay in assessing Mr Y’s care and support needs. She said the Council’s failings resulted in delays with Mr Y getting the necessary care and support services he needed, and it affected Mr Y’s mental health. Mrs X said the matter also caused her family significant distress.

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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 an organisation’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 discussed the complaint with Mrs X and considered the information she provided. I considered the information the Council provided in response to my enquiries.
6. I sent Mrs X and the Council a copy of my draft decision and considered the comments received before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and Guidance

7. The Care Act 2014 states councils must assess any adult that appears to have needs for care and support. There is no timescale set out in the government’s Care and Support Statutory Guidance for the completion of this process. It simply says the assessment should be completed in a timely manner, proportionate to the needs to be met.
8. Councils must involve the adult, their carer if they have one, and anyone else the adult asks to be involved or who has an interest in their welfare. The Care and Support (Eligibility Criteria) Regulations 2014 set the minimum threshold at which needs must be met by a council.
9. An adult’s needs arise from or are related to physical or mental impairment or illness; the adult cannot achieve two or more specified outcomes because of those needs, and there is likely to be a significant impact on the adult’s wellbeing.
10. Once a council has determined a person is eligible, it must set out the person’s needs and how the council will meet those needs in a Care and Support Plan.
11. Councils must provide the person assessed with a copy of their decision and the Care and Support Plan. The council must meet those identified eligible needs.

What happened

12. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
13. Mr Y has a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder. In June 2021, Mrs X requested a care and support needs assessment on behalf of Mr Y for a supported employment programme. The Council acknowledged receipt of Mrs X’s request.
14. In August and September 2021, Mrs X contacted the Council. She asked for updates on the care assessment she requested in June 2021. She expressed her frustrations about the Council’s delays in assessing Mr Y’s needs. Mrs X explained Mr Y needed funding and provisions to be put in place for the supported employment programme she asked for. The Council said Mrs X’s request was initially allocated to the wrong team and it apologised for its delay in allocating her request.
15. In September 2021, the Council on several occasions passed Mrs X’s care needs assessment request between different teams for allocation. By the end of September 2021, the Council finally allocated Mrs X’s request to the appropriate team to conduct Mr Y’s care needs assessment. Mrs X reminded the Council that funding for a taxi provision was important to be put in place for Mr Y to access any provisions agreed following his assessment.
16. On 12 October 2021, the Council completed Mr Y’s care assessment and support plan. Mrs X explained Mr Y needed support with accessing the community as he had been socially isolated since June 2021 when he left college which affected his mental wellbeing. The Council agreed to refer Mr Y for supported employment programmes and to arrange funding for taxi provision.
17. The Council arranged taster sessions for Mr Y to attend. Mr Y was scheduled to start his provision on 29 November 2021.
18. In mid-November 2021, Mrs X asked the Council when it would approve funding for the taxi service which would be required for Mr Y’s provision start date. The Council immediately made a referral to the transport service to complete Mr Y’s transport assessment.
19. On 29 November 2021, the taxi service arranged by the Council did not pick up Mr Y, so he missed the first day of his commissioned service. Mrs X expressed her frustrations about how the Council failed to let Mr Y start his supported employment programme on the scheduled date despite its six-months delay. The Council explained there was some miscommunication between the transport team and the taxi company about Mr Y’s pick-up service on the 29 November 2021. It said the taxi company had insufficient time to organise a driver for the service. The Council apologised to Mrs X.
20. On 3 December 2021, the taxi service commenced. Mr Y started receiving the care support services as agreed in his support plan.
21. In January 2022, Mrs X made a formal complaint to the Council. She complained about the Council’s delays in assessing Mr Y’s care needs and putting funding in place to enable him to access the agreed provisions in his support plan. She said despite the concerns she raised with the Council after its initial delays and its incorrect allocation of her request, it continued to pass her request to different teams to deal with. She said the Council again failed to provide a taxi service for Mr Y to start his provision on the scheduled date due to a late submission for taxi approval. Mrs X said the Council’s failings were unacceptable and had caused significant distress to Mr Y and Mrs X’s family. She said Mr Y’s mental health had also been affected.
22. In March 2022, the Council issued its response to Mrs X’s complaint. The Council acknowledged the care needs assessment request Mrs X submitted in June 2021 was overlooked. It also acknowledged Mrs X contacted it on several occasions to ask for updates on her request. The Council apologised to Mrs X. It said its delays with allocating Mrs X’s request to the appropriate team was due to an administrative error. The Council explained the subsequent miscommunication between the transport team and the taxi company regarding Mr Y’s transport provision was unacceptable as Mr Y missed the first day of his programme. It apologised for the distress and anxiety caused to Mr Y and Mrs X’s family. The Council assured Mrs X it had streamlined its processes and reviewed the roles and responsibilities of its teams. The Council said it would also review the joint working practices between its teams to ensure improved communications and to achieve appropriate outcomes for its service users in a timely manner.
23. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s delays in assessing Mr Y’s care needs and delays with providing him with the appropriate services as agreed in his support plan. She made a complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

24. The Care and Support Guidance says an assessment should be carried out over an appropriate and reasonable timescale. The Ombudsman expect councils should complete assessments normally within 4-6 weeks. This is to ensure eligible needs are identified and met in a timely manner.
25. It took the Council approximately 4 months to complete Mr Y’s care needs assessment. Mrs X requested the assessment for Mr Y in June 2021 and the Council completed it in October 2021. This was a significant delay. The Council was at fault for its delays in allocating and completing Mr Y’s care and support needs assessment.
26. There was further fault by the Council when it failed to provide Mr Y with a taxi service on 29 November 2021 to start his supported employment programme. This was because of some miscommunication between the transport team and the taxi company. However, it is the Council’s duty to ensure the provision agreed in Mr Y’s support plan was put in place in a timely manner. The Council failed to discharge its duty and it was fault.
27. The Councils failings as identified above caused Mr Y and Mrs X distress, frustration, and inconvenience. Mr Y was left without a care package for approximately 6 months (June to December 2021). Mrs X was also put to the time and trouble chasing the Council for updates on her request and complaining.
28. In response to my enquiries, the Council acknowledged its failings and said it would like to offer Mrs X a total of £1,050. It explained £250 would be for the distress and inconvenience caused and £800 in recognition for Mr Y’s loss of social contact and support between September and December 2021. The Council also confirmed it had clarified the responsibilities of its teams and that allocation of referrals would be completed by its management team. This is to avoid future delays with allocations and care needs assessments.
29. I find these are proportionate and appropriate remedies in accordance with our guidance on remedies.

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Agreed action

30. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, the Council has agreed to complete the following within one month of the final decision:

• apologise again in writing to Mrs X and Mr Y for the distress, frustration and inconvenience caused by the faults identified
• pay £250 to Mrs X to acknowledge the distress, inconvenience, frustration and the time and trouble she was put to in chasing the Council for updates and for complaining
• pay £800 to Mrs X on behalf of Mr Y. This is to acknowledge the Council’s delays in providing Mr Y with the appropriate provisions as agreed in his support plan
• provide the Ombudsman with evidence of the Council’s:
1. streamlined allocation referral process(es) for service users’ care needs assessment requests
2. review of the roles and responsibilities of teams on care needs request allocation referrals and assessment
3. review of the joint working practices between teams to ensure improved communications and to ensure appropriate outcomes are achieved for service users in a timely manner
• provide the Ombudsman with an explanation and/or evidence of how the Council will monitor its service improvements (a, b and c listed above) to ensure the faults experienced by Mrs X and Mr Y do not reoccur.

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Final decision

31. I find evidence of fault by the Council leading to injustice. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman