Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to stop Mrs X’s direct payments. This is because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council decided to stop direct payments she was receiving on behalf of her husband Mr X following a carer’s assessment. She also complained the Council carried out an assessment face to face rather than in writing as she requested and would not consider changing its decision.
2. Ms X said the Council’s actions have left her and Mr X with unmet needs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X became a carer for her husband in 2008 and was in receipt of direct payments to provide care for him until early 2022.
7. Mrs X complained to the Council about its decision to stop the payments as well as her unhappiness with the Council’s insistence on carrying out a face-to-face carer’s assessment rather than an assessment in writing only as she preferred. Mrs X asked the Council to consider changing its decision and reinstate her direct payments.
8. The Council explained to Mrs X that it would not be able to reinstate the direct payments because the assessment showed that Mr X could be left unattended for short periods of time and this was not previously thought to be the case. As the payments were intended to be used for these periods, the Council deemed Mrs X was no longer eligible for direct payments. The Council also explained it was not possible to carry out a proper assessment relying on written information only and as Mrs X had not provided evidence showing a difference in Mr X’s care needs, it would not change the decision.
9. Mrs X remains unhappy with the Council’s decision and wants us to find the Council at fault. The Ombudsman cannot question the merits of a decision which the Council has correctly made. The Council has shown it carried out an assessment which uncovered a change in Mr X’s needs which his direct payments were previously based on. The Council therefore stopped the direct payments. We would expect the Council to carry out a thorough assessment to arrive at this decision and to provide Mrs X with its rationale, which the evidence shows it did. An investigation into this matter would be unlikely to result in a finding of fault on the Council’s part.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman