Summary: There was a failure to issue a carer’s support plan for Mr X which caused him avoidable frustration and uncertainty about the outcome of his carer’s assessment. The Council will apologise and issue Mr X with a carer’s support plan.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained for himself and for his wife Mrs X. He said the Council:
1. Failed to complete carers assessments for him for 12 years;
2. Failed to respond adequately when he told it about problems with the stairlift and befriending service;
3. Failed to review Mrs X’s care and support plan; and
4. Did not respond to his complaints accurately.
2. Mr X said the Council’s fault caused avoidable distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation 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 organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
4. 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
5. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
6. 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)
7. 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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What I have and have not investigated

The investigation period

8. Mr X first complained to us in October 2023. We did not accept his complaint for investigation because he had not completed the Council’s complaint procedure and it was reasonable for the Council to respond fully to his complaint. Mr X contacted us again in January 2024 and this time the Council had provided a final complaint response, so we decided to investigate.
9. October 2022 to December 2023 is not a late period and I have investigated it. I have not investigated before October 2022 because there is no reason for Mr X’s delay in contacting us.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered the complaint to us, the Council’s response to the complaint and documents set out in this statement.
11. 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

12. Where a council agrees a person has care and support needs which meet national eligibility criteria, it must issue them with a care and support plan which sets out their needs, explains which is an eligible need and says how much funding the person is entitled to. It should give a copy of the care and support plan to the person. (Care Act 2014, sections 24 and 25)
13. A council should review a care and support plan at least every year, on 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 to it. The council should act promptly after receiving a request for a review. (Care and Support Statutory Guidance, Paragraphs 13.19-21 and 13.32)
14. A council must carry out a carer’s assessment where it appears a carer may have needs for support. The assessment must include an assessment of the carer’s ability and willingness to continue in the caring role, the outcomes the carer wishes to achieve in daily life and whether support could contribute to achieving those outcomes (Care Act 2014, section 10)
15. The Council’s carer’s assessment form is usually completed by the carer. Care and Support Statutory Guidance says this is permitted. If required, the local carer’s centre can help the carer complete the form and then send it to the Council. The Council will then contact the carer directly about additional support.
16. The Care Act specifies a carer’s support needs can be met by the local authority providing services/care to the person they care for. Councils should consider how to align personal budgets where they are meeting the carer’s needs and the adult needing care concurrently. Where a carer’s needs can be met by providing services to the (disabled) adult this should be included in their adult’s care and support plan as well as being detailed in a carer’s support plan. (Care and Support Statutory Guidance, paragraphs 11.36 and 11.38)

Summary of key events

17. Mrs X has disabilities. She lives at home with Mr X, who is her informal carer. Mrs X is eligible for care and support from the Council. The Council provides a direct payment (a cash payment) with which Mr X employs a team of personal assistants (PAs) to provide Mrs X’s care and support.
18. The Council provided me with two carer’s assessment forms; one signed by Mr X in 2018 and the other in September 2022. The Council told me it received these forms from Mr X in November 2022. The Council also told me:
• It had been providing five hours a week of carer’s support funding since May 2022 which is included on Mrs X’s care and support plan
• This funding enables Mr X to purchase PA support for five hours a week or he can accrue hours flexibly to ensure he could spend time away from the home for himself.
19. The Council also provided me with extensive case notes of its contact with Mr X including email trails, occupational therapy (OT) assessments and notes of visits. Many of these contacts are about other issues which I have considered in a separate investigation. I have summarised relevant contacts to this complaint below:

Date Summary

August 2022 A senior manager met with Mr X and his MP. The senior manager emailed Mr X a copy of a blank carer’s assessment form for him to complete and some information about help to complete the form from the carer’s centre. A social worker offered to collect the form from Mr X when had completed it.

September 2022 The carer’s centre emailed the social worker saying Mr X’s carer’s assessment was overdue a review.

October and

November 2022 The social worker asked Mr X if he had completed the carer’s assessment. She offered some dates to collect the form.

February 2023 The social worker hand delivered a photocopy of the carer’s assessment form to Mr X at home.

February 2023 An internal email from the social worker to a senior manager said Mr X had been unwell and had not wanted to meet with officers. The social worker noted Mr X’s carer’s needs were recognised on Mrs X’s care and support plan which had five hours a week of PA support to enable Mr X to have a break and two weeks a year of live-in care for him to take a longer break.

March 2023 The social worker offered some dates to meet with Mr X to review Mrs X’s care and support plan. She said this was the way to get any changes agreed.

May 2023 A senior practitioner offered a review for Mrs X. Mr X said he had a lot of other pressing commitments and would get back to the practitioner with dates.

July 2023 A social worker offered Mr X a meeting to carry out a review. Mr X said he would need an agenda and was concerned about meetings achieving nothing. The social worker said the meeting would be to review Mrs X’s care needs and his needs as a carer. Mr X said the Council should already be aware of their situation.

July 2023 Mr X told the social worker his health had declined and he couldn’t provide as much care for Mrs X. He said PAs were looking to get other jobs as they hadn’t had a pay rise for years. He was worried about losing them.

August 2023 A manager again offered to visit Mr and Mrs X to complete a review of Mrs X’s care and support plan. The visit took place. The manager emailed a summary of the outcome. Mr X was going into hospital. The manager said the care and support plan had contingency hours in it already and Mr X needed to keep a record of extra paid care while he was in hospital and afterwards while recovering. Mr X was given contact details of the Council’s rapid response service. The plan was for a further visit after Mr X’s surgery to review his needs as a carer and for a further review of Mrs X’s care and support plan.

January 2023 An occupational therapist (OT) assessed Mrs X and observed carers supporting her to transfer on and off the stairlift. The stairlift was old and worn and likely to break down. It was not economical to repair and it would need replacing eventually. The OT said Mrs X was not safe to transfer on and off the stairlift and in particular the OT did not recommend PAs physically lifting Mrs X on and off the stairlift several times a day as this was a risk. The OT noted Mr and Mrs X did not want to consider any other options and wanted a new stairlift.

October 2023 Two senior OTs also observed Mrs X and reached the same view as their colleague. Their concerns were about PA’s using transfer methods on and off the stairlift which were not suitable and placed everyone at risk of injury. The Council therefore said it would not fund a replacement stairlift.

20. At the start of January 2024, a social worker emailed Mr X setting out a summary of Mrs X’s current care and support plan. The email said the current plan provided for:
• Two hours care in the morning for support with showering, washing, dressing, skin care and bedding change, breakfast, medication and transfers
• One hour support at lunch time with a meal, drink, continence care and transfer
• One hour support at tea-time (same tasks as at lunch time)
• One hour support at evening with personal care, getting ready for bed, transfer into bed, medication and a drink
• Social support of five hours a week (two sessions) to access the community.
• One hour a week of support to attend health appointments
• Five hours a week of carer’s break for Mr X
• Two weeks a year of live-in carer support. This is support in case Mr X becomes unwell and cannot look after Mrs X. It can also be used if Mr X wants to go away for a break.

The Council’s responses to the complaints

21. Mr X raised formal complaints with the Council several times in 2022 and 2023 about the matters I am investigating and about other matters. I have summarised relevant parts of the responses below:
• The OT who assessed Mrs Y considered she could no longer be safely transferred on and off the stairlift and so an application for a DFG to replace it was not recommended as it did not pass the legal tests for a DFG (because the adaptation was not appropriate). The OT assessed the risk as unacceptably high.
• The Council offered to complete a carers assessment in June 2023, but he declined to meet with officers.
• The Council was willing to carry out a review of Mrs X’s care and support and asked him to contact to arrange a meeting.

Relevant events post-dating my investigation

22. Mr X sent me a copy of a carer’s assessment form which he has completed. It is dated January 2025. He set out a recent decline in his health which may affect his ability to provide ongoing care.

Was there fault?

Failure to complete carers assessments

23. Care and Support Statutory Guidance allows for carers to complete their own assessment forms. The records indicate the Council received Mr X’s completed carer’s assessment form in November 2022 (and also a copy of an earlier form he completed in 2018). Matters have moved on as Mr X has completed a further carer’s assessment form in January 2025. I am satisfied carer’s assessments were done for the period I have investigated.
24. The Council is permitted to meet Mr X’s needs as a carer by providing funding for respite provision and placing this on Mrs X’s care and support plan as it has done. However, the Council has not completed a carer’s support plan for Mr X. This is not in line with paragraph 11.38 of Care and Support Statutory Guidance and is fault. It has caused avoidable confusion for Mr X about the support and services he can expect to receive as a carer.

Failure to respond adequately when Mr X told it about problems with the stairlift and befriending service

25. There is no record of Mr X raising any concerns about the befriending service during the period I have investigated so there is no fault in this part of the complaint.
26. The Council acted without fault in the way it dealt with Mr X’s request for a replacement stairlift. Three OTs visited, assessed Mrs X by observing PAs completing transfers and they reached the same view that a stairlift was not safe. It is not the LGSCO’s role to interfere with the merits of a professional judgement. I recognise Mr X does not agree with the OT’s judgements, but there is no fault in them.

Failure to review Mrs X’s care and support plan

27. The records indicate officers offered to carry out reviews of Mrs X’s care and support plan on several occasions in 2023 and for various good reasons, including poor health, he has declined. I do not uphold this complaint because the Council has offered visits to complete a review, but Mr X has not wished to take the Council up on its offers.

Failure to respond to his complaints accurately.

28. The complaint responses reflect an accurate summary of the case records at the time the responses were issued. So I do not uphold this complaint.

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Agreed action

29. The Council should, within one month of my final decision:
• Issue a carer’s support plan for Mr X
• Apologise to Mr X for the avoidable distress/ uncertainty of not having a carer’s support plan. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings; and
30. The Council should provide us with the following written evidence it has complied with the actions in paragraph 29:
• A copy of the written apology
• A copy of Mr X’s carer’s support plan

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Final decision

31. I found fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy the injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman