Summary: The complainant, Miss Y, complained the Council failed to understand her care needs and provide the support she needs to meet them. We are satisfied the Council considered all relevant evidence and followed the proper procedures when carrying out Miss Y’s care needs assessment and the following review. Therefore, we do not find the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Miss Y, complained the Council failed to understand her care needs and to provide the support she needs to meet them.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I discussed the complaint with Miss Y
5. I considered Miss Y’s correspondence with the Council, the Council’s case notes, Miss Y’s current and previous support plans and documents from the completed review of Miss Y’s care needs.
6. I set out my initial view on the complaint in a draft decision statement and invited comments from Miss Y and the Council.

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What I found

7. Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 require councils to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. They must provide an assessment to everyone regardless of their finances or whether the council thinks the person has eligible needs. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved.
8. The Care Act 2014 gives councils a legal responsibility to provide a care and support plan (or a support plan for a carer). The care and support plan should consider what needs the person has, what they want to achieve, what they can do by themselves or with existing support and what care and support may be available in the local area. When preparing a care and support plan the council must involve any carer the adult has. The support plan must include a personal budget, which is the money the council has worked out it will cost to arrange the necessary care and support for that person.
9. Section 27 of the Care Act 2014 says councils should keep care and support plans under review. Government Care and Support Statutory Guidance says councils should review plans at least every 12 months. Councils should consider a light touch review six to eight weeks after agreeing and signing off the plan and personal budget. They should carry out reviews as quickly as is reasonably practicable in a timely manner proportionate to the needs to be met. Councils must also conduct a review if an adult or a person acting on the adult’s behalf makes a reasonable request for one.

What happened

10. Miss Y has a mild learning disability and several health conditions. In the past she has had anxiety and depression.
11. The Council carried out a face-to-face care needs assessment with Miss Y. The assessment says Miss Y:

• Has a bus pass which she uses independently.
• She goes to concerts around the country and will sometimes stay overnight.
• She enjoys social activities and has previously accessed community groups.
• She requires help to ensure she is eating healthily and with maintaining her home.

12. In September 2022 the Council issued Miss Y with a care and support plan. It said Miss Y would have six hours of support a week to help her with eating healthily and looking after her home.
13. The care plan also acknowledged that Miss Y was moving to a new area and would need support for a few weeks to get used to the area, the locations of shops and transport routes.
14. Miss Y moved to her new home on 30 September.
15. Following her move Miss Y’s carers helped her become familiar with the area and how to use public transport to get to the shops.
16. The Council also completed a travel assessment for her. Miss Y was able to tell the assessor how to get to the shops from her home. The assessor found Miss Y did not need any further support.
17. However, Miss Y felt worried about going out in case she got lost. She asked the Council for three extra hours of support on a Friday to help her go out.
18. The Council told Miss Y her care needs assessment did not identify that she needed help accessing the community. For this reason, it could not give her three hours of extra support on a Friday.
19. Unhappy Miss Y made a complaint. She said the care needs assessment did not properly reflect her needs.
20. In response the Council began a review of Miss Y’s care and support plan.
21. As part of the review the Council met with Miss Y and her learning disability nurse at her home. Case notes from the visit say;

• Miss Y said she would like another three hours of support on a Friday to help her with shopping and going out into the community.
• Miss Y was able to tell her social worker where her local bus stop is, which bus to get on and where to get off.
• Miss Y’s carers are helping her with travel training, so she feels more confident using local bus routes and less worried about getting lost.
• Miss Y has gone to concerts in other parts of the country and gone on holiday. She has also accessed voluntary and community groups independently.

22. The review concluded that Miss Y did not need an extra three hours of support on a Friday.
23. Following the review, the Council replied to Miss Y’s complaint. It said her care needs assessment properly reflected her needs and she was receiving the right amount of support.
24. Unhappy Miss Y referred her complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

25. The Ombudsman’s role is to look at how the Council have made decisions. We look to see it has followed the proper procedures and taken account of all the relevant evidence. We cannot criticise a Council’s decision if we find it has been made properly.
26. The care needs assessment included Miss Y, her learning disability nurse and others involved in her care. The assessment discussed Miss Y’s needs including her ability to access the community independently. It understood Miss Y would need help to become familiar with the area she was moving to and arranged for this to be included in her six hours of support.
27. The Council also reviewed Miss Y’s care and support plan when she asked for extra hours of support. The review was carried out face-to-face with Miss Y, her learning disability nurse and her social worker. The review found Miss Y could tell her social worker about her local bus routes and how to reach local shops. Miss Y’s social worker noted that Miss Y can travel to concerts and go on holiday and has gone to community groups in the past. For these reasons Miss Y’s social worker found she can access the community without extra support.
28. I also note the Council arranged for a travel assessment for Miss Y. The assessor was satisfied that Miss Y did not need any extra support.
29. I am satisfied the Council considered all the relevant evidence and completed both the care need assessment and the review properly. I do not find there has been fault by the Council.

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Final decision

30. I have completed my investigation and have not found fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman