Birmingham City Council (23 006 040)
Category : Adult care services > Assessment and care plan
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 30 Nov 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council assessed the complainants care needs and disability related expenditure. This is because the issues raised happened too long ago and I see no good reason to exercise discretion and investigate them now.
The complaint
- Ms X complains that in 2016, the Council did not properly assess her care needs not properly calculate her disability related expenditure.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In 2016, the Council carried out an assessment of Ms X’s care needs and subsequently considered her disability related expenditure when calculating how much Ms X should contribute to the cost of her care. Ms X says she raised her concerns with the service at the time but was not directed to the Council’s complaints process. The Council says it has not received a complaint from Ms X about these matters.
- I will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the issues she raises happened some seven years ago and I do not consider there are sufficient reasons why she could not have complained sooners. Whilst I note Ms X says she was not directed to the complaints process, information about the Council’s process has been widely available for several years. Furthermore, Ms X did complain to the Council about a separate matter in December 2022 but has yet to complain about the issues she raises in this complaint. For these reasons, I see no good reason to exercise discretion and investigate Ms X’s complaint now.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint is made late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman