Summary: The Council has decided not to recover the debt owed by Ms A. The Ombudsman will not pursue the complaint further.

The complaint

1. Ms A’s representative, a company which manages her finances, complains that the Council delayed in reassessing Ms A’s finances and then sought to backdate her care fees for a time when it said her savings were above the threshold amount.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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 considered the information provided by the Council and by the representative (whom I shall call Mr X). Both parties had the opportunity to comment on a draft of this statement before I reached a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

5. A council has a duty to arrange care and support for those with eligible needs, and a power to meet both eligible and non-eligible needs in places other than care homes. A council can choose to charge for non-residential care following a person’s needs assessment. Where it decides to charge, the council must follow the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 and have regard to the Care Act statutory guidance. (Care Act 2014, section 14 and 17)

What happened

6. Ms A lives in supported accommodation. Her appointee is a management company which also acts as her care provider. Ms A received Housing Benefit. She also received Direct Payments to pay for her care.
7. The Council says Ms A went over the £23,250 savings threshold for financial assessment purposes on 13 May 2019. It says a backdated assessment was completed and Ms A was made a full cost payer from 13 May 2019 up to 7 August 2022. 
8. Mr X says he contacted the Council in 2020 after Ms A’s Direct Payments accumulated in her account as they were not being spent on care costs and her savings had risen to over £34,000. He says however that the Council did not then reassess her finances until 2023 when it said she owed over £90,000.
9. Mr X appealed again the decision on Ms A’s behalf. The Council responded that as Ms A’s corporate appointee it was his organisation’s responsibility to notify the Council of changes in her savings or benefits. The Council says it was not notified until September 2021 of the time that Ms A had had savings above the threshold amount.
10. The Council says although it has applied its policy correctly, Ms A does not have the resources to pay the debt. The Council says it has therefore decided not to recover the debt which had accrued, of £128,383.

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Final decision

11. The Council has decided not to pursue the debt and there is no worthwhile outcome to any further investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman