Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to stop paying transport costs for Mr Y’s trips to his vocational work placement. Mr X said this is part of Mr Y’s care and support plan and the Council should pay. We did not find fault in the Council’s decision-making.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to stop paying transport costs for Mr Y’s trips to his vocational work placement. Mr X said this is part of Mr Y’s care and support plan and the Council should pay.
2. Mr X said transport costs were included in the original Shared Lives agreement signed with the former Council. However, now a new Council has been formed, the Council has produced a new agreement where Mr X must pay Mr Y’s transport costs. Mr X said this is contrary to the relevant Shared Lives guidance.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future 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. As part of the investigation, I considered the complaint and the information Mr X provided.
6. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered its response along with relevant law and guidance.
7. 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

Shared Lives

8. Shared Lives schemes provide an alternative to traditional social care accommodation and support for adults. Under Shared Lives schemes service users who cannot live independently receive care and support from ordinary family households called Shared Lives carers.
9. Users of Shared Lives schemes may include people with learning disabilities, people with mental health problems, care leavers, and disabled children becoming young adults.
10. Shared Lives care may include:
• Accommodation and support.
• Short breaks.
• Daytime support.
• Rehabilitation.
• Kinship support, where the carer acts as extended family to someone living in their home.
11. Shared Lives carers can be individuals, couples or families. Carers are recruited and assessed by the council to provide care to services users.
12. Shared Lives carers normally receive a ‘carers handbook’ which details the expectations and the role of the Shared Lives carer. The council and the Shared Lives carer sign a contract and/or placement agreement which sets out their obligations. Policies and procedures may differ between councils.
13. Shared Lives carers are paid a fee to cover the rent, household costs and care and support they offer to service users.
14. There will be a financial agreement between the Shared Lives carer and the council. Some councils pay carers using a banding system which is based on the needs of the service user and/or the Shared Lives carer’s experience or level of training. However, this is not always the case and is dependent on the council’s policy.
15. The council has a responsibility to assess the needs of the Shared Lives service user as set out in the Care Act 2014. There should be a written support/care plan which shows how the service users’ needs will be met in the placement.

Shared Lives Plus guidance

16. Shared Lives Plus is a charity for people living and working in shared lives care.
17. Shared Lives Plus issued guidance in 2021 titled ‘Managing Transport costs in Shared Lives arrangements.’ The guidance explains the transport needs of service users can be met in a range of ways, depending on their needs. The shared lives agreement should identify the main ways transport needs will be met and arrangements to cover the costs.
18. Shared Lives Plus guidance provides its view on who should pay transport costs. The suggestions are not prescriptive, but should help with decision making.
19. The service user is expected to pay for transport to social events, or the costs should be shared if the carer is also attending.
20. The service user should pay for transport to day services. However, if they cannot afford the transport costs the local authority should pay.
21. The carer should pay for transporting the service user to respite care.

The Council’s Shared Lives agreement

22. The Council’s new Shared Lives agreements states the costs of transporting service users in a carer’s own vehicle to support, or health and community services shall be the responsibility of the shared lives carer.
23. The Council’s carers handbook, which accompanies the new shared lives agreement, states carers are expected to provide or arrange transport for service users to attend support, health and community care services, as well as access to education and day opportunities.

What happened

24. I have summarised below some key events leading to Mr X’s complaint. This is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
25. Mr Y has lived with his Shared Lives carers, Mr X and Mrs X, for several years.
26. Since 2021, Mr Y has attended a vocational work placement at a nearby farm four days a week, and is transported by his support worker. Before this, Mr Y was in full time education, where he also needed transport.
27. The cost of Mr Y’s transport was previously funded by the former local council, under a shared lives agreement Mr and Mrs X signed in 2015.
28. In 2019, the former local council merged with two other local councils to form the current Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole BCP Council (the Council). Each of the three councils making up the Council had their own Shared Lives agreements. The Council therefore decided to create a new single Shared Lives agreement to replace the old separate agreements.
29. The Council introduced the new Shared Lives agreement in April 2021. It wrote to Shared Lives carers on 24 March 2021 providing details of the new agreement. It said the main changes are:
• A new, easier to read format.
• Four weeks’ respite a year for all carers.
• Respite will be paid at gross cost.
• Carers need their own public liability insurance.
• Service users will not be charged mileage for transport to and from support services, but will pay towards the cost of transport for leisure outings.
30. The Council also confirmed four new payment Band rates for the weekly amount carers would receive. It said carers currently in Band 5 or classed as un-banded under old agreements will continue to receive the same weekly payments.
31. The Council gave carers two weeks to raise questions.
32. Mr and Mrs X contacted the Council on 6 July 2021 expressing concerns about the new agreement.
33. The Council wrote to Mr and Mrs X on 5 January 2022. It said when the Council was formed it needed to harmonise legacy shared lives schemes into one set of terms and conditions for carers. It confirmed it send the new terms to all Shared Lives carers in March 2021, allowing two weeks for carers to raise concerns. The Council said it subsequently issued variation notices in April and June 2021 following comments from carers.
34. The Council said Mr and Mrs X did not provide comments until July 2021, after the deadline. It asked if there were any mitigating circumstances.
35. The Council said Mr and Mrs X were entitled to the standard 28 days respite. Any additional respite will form part of Mr Y’s care package. It confirmed carers are required to provide transport for service users under the new agreement.
36. Mr and Mrs X contacted the Council in November and December 2022, expressing dissatisfaction with the following:
• Lack of communication from the learning disability team about unpaid invoices for carers fees.
• They did not agree to Mr Y’s care and support plan.
• Mr Y’s support worker said Mr and Mrs X would only receive four weeks’ respite when previously they received nine weeks.
37. The Council responded to Mr and Mrs X’s complaints on 30 January 2023. It said:
• Its adult learning disability service liaised with the allocated worker about the invoices Mr and Mrs X submitted. Unfortunately, it did not communicate with them about payments or delays. It apologised for this and confirmed it made outstanding payments in November 2022.
• It completed Mr Y’s assessment, but Mr and Mrs X continue to dispute the issue of transport provision. It said it considered this as part of their previous complaint in November 2021. It found Mr Y needs transport to access support activities, and this should be included in his care plan. However, Mr and Mrs X are commissioned to provide care and support under the Shared Lives scheme, and this includes transporting Mr Y to activities.
• It considered Mr and Mrs X’s views on the new Shared Lives agreement in their complaint from September 2022. It said it continued to make transport payments, but these would now stop, and Mr and Mrs X are bound by the terms of the new agreement.
• The amount of respite has not changed. The generic allocation under the new agreement is four weeks. Additional respite is based on assessed need and the Council has agreed to nine weeks in Mr Y’s assessment.
38. Mr and Mrs X complained to the Council on 24 April 2023 about its decision to withdraw funding for transporting Mr Y to activities included in his care plan.
39. The Council sent its final complaint response on 27 April 2023. It said it had already addressed Mr and Mrs X’s complaint and made its position clear on 30 January. It signposted Mr and Mrs X to the Ombudsman.

My investigation

40. Mr X told me he received payments from the former local council under a Shared Lives agreement since 2015, and then from the new Council in April 2019. When the new Council issued new terms, it did not say the old terms were withdrawn. It expected carers to sign the new agreement. Mr X said the former agreement had not come to an end.
41. Mr X said the Council took legal advice on the new agreement. However, he said its legal services are not familiar with the Care Act. He also said the Council disregarded advice from Shared Lives Plus about how it should manage transport costs for Shared Lives agreements.
42. Mr X said he told the Council Mr Y would pay for transport himself, but the Council threatened safeguarding action if this happened.
43. The Council told me the purpose of its new Shared Lives agreement was to align Banding and respite care rates and promote equality for carers. It said the agreement Mr X signed with the former council did not cite current legislation and guidance, so was no longer fit for purpose. This supported the need for unified terms across the new Council service.
44. The Council said the new agreement has financially more favourable Banding rates and a standard amount of respite care. It said carers losing respite compared to the former scheme have the option to buy more.
45. The Council said individual circumstances can support a deviation from the agreement, depending on the needs of the service user and the carer’s situation. It said it allowed Mr X more respite care than the new agreement provides, due to Mr Y’s needs. It also pays Mr X more than the highest Band in the new agreement, as Mr Y’s needs exceed the current Bands. The Council said it used this approach when agreeing to pay Mr X transport costs over the last 18 months.
46. The Council said Shared Lives Plus is not a statutory body and the Council can decide whether to accept their guidance or not.
47. The Council told me it held discussions with Shared Lives Plus about its new agreement, including who should pay for transport costs to and from day services. It sought advice from Shared Lives Plus when Mr X refused to sign the new agreement.
48. The Council said Shared Lives Plus agreed it was reasonable to give carers two weeks to provide feedback on the new agreement, and they agreed with the Council’s decision to allow four weeks respite care. It said Shared Lives Plus also agreed with the Council’s logic regarding eligible needs and Banding payments.
49. The Council said Shared Lives transport guidance is not prescriptive. Its own handbook confirms the Council does not take a blanket approach to all journeys. For example, leisure trips should be paid for by service users, and some transport costs in special circumstances.

Analysis

50. When the Council was formed, it inherited the Shared Lives agreements from the three former councils. It was therefore initially responsible for honouring these agreements. However, as the Council explained to Mr and Mrs X, the Council has the right to review and update such agreements.
51. Mr X said the Council did not withdraw the old agreement from the former council.
52. I found the Council distributed newsletters in 2019, 2020, and 2021, informing the Shared Lives community it was reviewing the old agreements and intended to harmonise them by creating a single agreement.
53. The Council then wrote to Shared Lives carers in March 2021 providing a copy of the new agreement and details of the new terms and conditions, highlighting the changes from the old agreements. It made clear this was a single set of terms and conditions for all shared lives carers in the Council’s area, rather than having different schemes.
54. While the Council may not have explicitly said it had withdrawn the old agreements, the inference is clear that the old agreements were ending and being replaced with a single new agreement.
55. Mr X also said the Council ignored guidance from Shared Lives Plus on transport costs when it created the new agreement.
56. The guidance from Shared Lives Plus suggests either the service user or the Council should pay for transport costs to day services.
57. However, guidance from Shared Lives Plus is just that. It is not law, it is guidance. Also, Shared Lives Plus are not a statutory body. Their guidance therefore cannot impose duties on councils. We expect councils to consider relevant guidance as part of decision making, but councils are not under a duty to follow it.
58. I did not see evidence the Council contacted Shared Lives Plus when forming its new shared lives agreement. However, I did see evidence the Council held discussions with Shared Lives Plus when it received feedback about the new agreement. Those discussions included transport costs and respite.
59. I found the Council’s new agreement was formed by its legal service, in conjunction with officers from its Shared Lives service.
60. Officers then produced a report on the new agreement, setting out the Banding changes, the respite allowance, the cost of the scheme, and the perceived benefits. This was agreed by senior managers.
61. The Council wanted to create a uniform agreement, bringing together the three legacy schemes. The new scheme adopted the allowances of one of the former legacy schemes, which was created by a former council, and which will have required a similar decision making and guidance consideration process.
62. I did not find evidence the Care Act, or the care and support statutory guidance, imposes any duties on councils when it comes to transport costs under shared lives agreements. The Council therefore has discretion.
63. I found the Council went through correct channels, in terms of its own procedures, when creating the new agreement. It then gave carers an opportunity to comment, and checked its position with Shared Lives Plus when it received feedback. In these circumstances, I did not find there was fault by the Council in the way it introduced the new shared lives agreement.
64. From what the Council told me, while its new agreement says carers will receive four weeks’ respite, and should pay transport costs, this is not rigid or set in stone. The Council is willing to consider exceptional circumstances and will consider exercising discretion. It said it did this in Mr Y’s case by allowing more respite, a higher rate than the top Band, and by paying transport costs over the last 18 months.

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Final decision

65. I have completed my investigation. We did not find fault in the Council’s decision-making.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman