Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s adult social care assessment. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council had not provided him a social worker or given him enough support. He wants the Council to provide him with social care support.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. The complainant had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained about the support the Council provided him. The Council completed two adult social care assessments of Mr X in 2022. It did not assess Mr X as having eligible needs. It referred Mr X to floating support and offered one-off support to help him access voluntary organisations. It also offered financial support to help with furnishings for his property. In its complaint response, it said that if he felt his neds had changed, he could contact the Council for a new assessment.
7. Although Mr X is unhappy about the support provided by the Council, there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council completed its assessment to justify our involvement. There is nothing to indicate the Council has not properly considered Mr X’s care needs. In any event, the Council has confirmed it intends to meet with Mr X to discuss if his care and support needs have changed. Therefore, there is nothing worthwhile to be achieved through further investigation.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care assessment and support. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman