Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to understand his care needs and provide him with the necessary support. Mr X said the Council’s support workers were rude and unprofessional and this has caused him stress and upset. We do not find the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to properly understand and assess his care needs and put the right support in place for him. Mr X says there has been a lack of stability since the Council removed its autism team and he has been assigned multiple different support workers who he feels have been rude, unprofessional, and have not understood his specific needs. Mr X says this has caused him real stress and upset.

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What I have and have not investigated

2. We cannot investigate complaints that are brought to us more than 12 months after the complainant ought to have been aware they had reason to complain. We can only exercise discretion if there are good reasons to do so.
3. Mr X has said the Council failed to properly understand his needs and put the right support in place for him as far back as 2021 but I have seen no good reason why he could not have brought a complaint to us sooner.
4. Mr X brought his complaint to us in January 2023 meaning we will only usually investigate as far back as January 2022. I have started my investigation from that point.
5. Mr X has also complained about new issues with the Council since he contacted us in January 2023, but we cannot look at new or ongoing matters. If Mr X wants us to consider investigating matters arising after January 2023, he would need to complete the Council’s complaints process first.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

6. 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)
7. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
8. 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)
9. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))
10. 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

11. I spoke to Mr X about his complaint and considered information he provided. I also considered information received from the Council.
12. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance; care and support

13. Councils must carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. 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. (Care Act 2014, Sections 9 and 10)
14. Councils must provide a care and support plan. The plan should consider what support 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.
15. Statutory guidance explains a council should review a care and support plan at least every year, on a reasonable request, or in response to a change in circumstances. The purpose of a review is to see how a care and support plan has been working and to decide if any revisions need to be made.

What happened

16. Mr X has an autism diagnosis and receives care and support from the Council.
17. In December 2021, the Council reviewed Mr X’s care and support plan. The review noted Mr X required supervision to be appropriately clothed, manage his nutrition, maintain a habitable home environment, make use of facilities in the local community, develop and maintain personal relationships, and access and engage in work and training. The review stated Mr X was currently living in a supported living facility but wanted to move to a different one.
18. The plan identified Mr X’s mother, Ms Y, generally supported his identified needs when she visited him, but he needed extra assistance from support workers to help him manage tasks more independently. The plan stated Mr X required a supported living placement and would move into a new one, with 49 shared support hours in the evenings and 14 one-on-one hours of support per week to meet his needs.
19. Due to staffing pressures, the Council did not allocate a specific support worker to Mr X. However, the Council’s autism team had oversight of Mr X’s plan and he was free to contact them when he needed assistance.
20. Mr X moved into the new supported living facility at the beginning of February 2022. Within a week of the move, Mr X contacted the Council to say he wanted to move back to his original supported living facility. The Council contacted them but there were no longer any vacancies there.
21. Mr X told the Council he did not want to stay at the new supported living facility, and he was unhappy with the support they were providing. The Council explained the support identified in Mr X’s plan was available to him at the supported living facility and it was his choice whether to remain there. It said if he chose to leave, he would have to find his own alternative accommodation.
22. As Mr X had concerns about the staff at the supported living facility: the Council arranged to meet with them, Mr X, and Ms Y in March 2022. The supported living facility team explained Mr X had expressed a preference for British support staff only, which they could not guarantee. The Council agreed it would allocate a new support worker to review Mr X’s support needs.
23. Mr X complained to the Council on 30 March. He said he found it hard to reach the autism team as they do not always pick up calls and he wanted an allocated support worker.
24. The next day, Mr X visited the Council’s adult social care team and asked to speak to a manager. Mr X explained he was unhappy with the team and the supported living facility.
25. On 5 April the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint. It explained it could not allocate specific workers to all individuals, but Mr X would have a review to ensure his needs were being met. It explained support workers had been in touch with Mr X every time he made contact, but it may be more efficient to talk to the staff at his accommodation initially if he needed support going forward.
26. The Council booked Mr X for a review with an allocated support worker, to take place on 11 May.
27. Mr X complained to the Council again on 5 April. He said the Council’s support workers were unprofessional and did not understand autism. Mr X said the support workers had refused to help him find social groups and had ignored him.
28. On 12 April Mr X called the Council to give more information about his complaint. He explained the level of support at the supported living facility was too much, and the staff often spoke other languages around him as well as using their own mobile phones.
29. Mr X’s support worker reviewed his support plan on 11 May. This mirrored Mr X’s previous review but noted he was very unsettled at the current assisted living facility and would like to move.
30. On 16 May, the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint. It explained it had agreed to review the level of support Mr X was receiving as it was currently 24 hours per day at the supported living facility, which he was finding to be too much. It also asked that staff refrain from speaking other languages and using their mobile phones when they were supporting Mr X.
31. During a call with his support worker in June 2022, Mr X said he was getting on better with some of the workers at his supported living facility, but he still wanted to move. The support worker agreed to look for alternative options. They also emailed the assisted living facility to outline the outstanding issues Mr X was having with their staff.
32. Mr X told the Council he wanted a different support worker and it agreed to allocate him someone else.
33. In June 2022, the Council’s autism team was disbanded, and resources were brought into its mental health social care team.
34. The Council located an alternative supported living facility in July 2022, and the facility emailed Mr X but he did not respond to them, so a move was not arranged.
35. The Council then allocated a new support worker who introduced himself to Mr X and let him know the Council was still looking for alternative supported accommodation for him.
36. Later that month, Mr X told his support worker he intended to leave the supported living facility and check into a hotel. The support worker explained the Council was still trying to find alternative options, but this was a decision Mr X was entitled to make if he wanted to.
37. Mr X left the supported living facility for a hotel on 21 July and refused to return.
38. On 29 July the Council told Mr X he would be allocated a new support worker who would be in touch to re-assess his needs shortly. They also asked that he only contact his designated point of contact at the Council as he had recently been contacting lots of different people which caused confusion with communication.
39. On 2 August, Mr X’s new support worker made contact to introduce himself. Mr X also spoke to the Council to explain the level of support at the supported living facility had been too intense and he now wanted a self-contained flat. The Council explained it could consider making direct payments to a personal assistant for support hours if Mr X found his own accommodation. The support worker also agreed set times each week when he would be free to speak to Mr X.
40. During August 2022, Mr X complained to the Council that he no longer wanted to live in supported living accommodation and that he felt nobody was listening to him.
41. On 8 August, Mr X told the Council he had an offer for a rented flat accepted.
42. On 16 August, Mr X told his support worker he had contacted a care provider directly for an assessment to provide him with 20 hours of support per week. The support worker explained he would need to review Mr X’s needs and the care provider in order to agree support hours.
43. On 26 August, Mr X told the Council he was disappointed they had not found him a flat and it took too long to get anything done. Mr X also said he wanted 18 hours of funded support per week. The Council explained his support worker was completing an assessment of needs to determine what hours of support he needed.
44. The Council completed a new care needs assessment for Mr X on 28 August. Mr X’s needs mirrored the previous assessments. This assessment noted Mr X was settled in a privately rented flat and had not been receiving funded support since his move six weeks ago. The assessment noted Mr X had been relatively independent but had received support from both his parents and a friend who lived locally, and seemed to be managing fine without additional support.
45. The assessment found Mr X needed eight hours of support weekly. The Council agreed to increase this to 16 hours at Mr X’s request.
46. Mr X told the Council he no longer wanted to work with his current support worker and a new support worker was assigned to him.
47. Throughout October 2022, Mr X’s new support worker worked with him to try to find new social activities and work opportunities.
48. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint on 6 October. It explained, since his complaint, it had now spoken with him and Ms Y. The Council accepted Mr X had found it difficult to work with some support workers and agreed to allocate a new support worker.
49. Mr X complained to the Council on 15 October. He explained he did not believe the Council had anyone who had experience with autism and his new support worker was rude.
50. On 18 October a Council officer visited Mr X at home. They explained they did not feel the support worker had been rude. They said Mr X had sent a large number of emails and it was difficult to keep up with these. They explained why the autism team had been disbanded and agreed to review the care provider Mr X had previously identified.
51. The following week, the Council appointed a new support worker to Mr X who introduced herself. She explained the Council could consider making direct payments to a personal assistant if Mr X could find one, rather than using the care provider.
52. Throughout November 2022, Mr X and his support worker discussed different options for securing support, social activities and a new job Mr X had found.
53. In December 2022, Ms Y agreed to take on the role of personal assistant for Mr X with a start date of 2 February 2023.
54. Mr X brought his complaint to the Ombudsman in January 2023.
55. In response to our enquiries, the Council has said:
• Mr X had raised multiple complaints, often duplicating points, but it had investigated and responded to everything raised.
• It is not always possible for support workers to be available when Mr X calls and it has tried to manage his expectations on this. The Council has reviewed communications with Mr X when staff have explained they are not available to talk and they do not believe these to be unprofessional or rude.
• The Council’s autism team was a small team. An increased demand and challenges in recruiting staff meant it developed a waiting list for care assessments. Due to the risks of being unable to meet demand, the Council decided to disband this team and bring services into its larger mental health social care teams.

Analysis

Removal of the autism team

56. The removal of the autism team is a decision the Council is entitled to make and I cannot find fault with the Council for doing this.
57. While I appreciate Mr X feels he would benefit from a specifically dedicated team, this is not something the Council is obliged to provide. The Council has given its reasons for deciding to bring its autism services into its wider mental health social care teams, and I do not find it at fault.

Mr X’s support plans and reviews

58. The support plans and reviews I have seen consider Mr X’s needs and what support he was receiving from Ms Y and others. The Council reviewed the plan regularly when there was a change in circumstances to ensure it was up to date. I find no fault with how the Council reviewed Mr X’s support plan or how it decided what support was needed.
59. The Council agreed to arrange support for Mr X through his supported living facility. I do not find fault with the steps the Council took to secure the support set out in Mr X’s plan.
60. Mr X expressed dissatisfaction about the workers at the supported living facility and the Council took steps to try and repair the relationships. The Council reminded workers to stay engaged with Mr X by not using their phones and only talking in English when working with him directly and I do not find it at fault here.
61. Mr X then chose to leave the supported living facility before the Council had made alternative arrangements for him. Support was still available at the facility, and I cannot find the Council at fault for Mr X’s decision not to use it.
62. Once Mr X moved into his own flat the Council reviewed his needs again and agreed to fund a personal assistant to provide the support hours he required. Ms Y agreed to take on this role from February 2023 and I do not find fault with the Council here.

Stability and professionalism

63. Mr X has had a number of different support workers throughout the period I have investigated. I appreciate this may have been frustrating for him, but the Council was under no obligation to provide one dedicated support worker for any particular length of time, so I do not find it at fault here. In any case, many of the changes were driven by Mr X himself.
64. Mr X has said he found the Council’s support workers to be rude to both him and Ms Y, but I have not seen evidence of this. I have reviewed copies of correspondence provided by both the Council and Mr X, but I do not find the Council at fault for a lack of professionalism.
65. Over the period I have investigated, the Council dealt with a large volume of correspondence from Mr X, and it appears to have tried to respond to all of his concerns. There are instances where the Council has tried to manage the manner and the frequency of Mr X’s contact, but the Council is entitled to try and regulate communication for efficiency, and I do not find it at fault for this.

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Final decision

66. I find no fault with how the Council reviewed and supported Mr X’s needs or for a lack of professionalism and stability. I also find no fault with the Council for deciding to remove its autism team. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman