Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to fund a placement for him at a specific care home. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council misinformed him when he asked for information about care placements. He also complains the Council refused to fund a placement for him at a specific care home.
2. Mr X says this has left him feeling vulnerable and suicidal.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X has a care and support plan because he has eligible care needs.
7. Mr X’s support worker told him they were retiring. Mr X contacted the Council and said he would like to move out of the area to be closer to his parents. The Council provided him with a list of accommodation. Mr X said he wished to live in a care home and named a specific one.
8. The Council assessed Mr X’s needs again and said they were not at a level which required a care home. It discussed the different options open to him and offered him four supported living placements close to his parents. It paid for Mr X to travel out of area to visit them. Mr X declined the placements after visiting.
9. In its complaints response, the Council partially upheld Mr X’s complaint about the information it provided about accommodation. This was because it failed to tell him it had a team which could source placements on Mr X’s behalf.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. The evidence of fault is not sufficient to warrant an investigation. And in any case, any injustice to Mr X is not significant enough to investigate.
11. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint about funding a placement at a care home. It said his care and support assessments did not indicate he needed the higher level of support they provided. It said supported independent living would meet his eligible needs. The Council also detailed the support it had provided Mr X since it was informed his support carer was retiring.
12. We will not investigate this complaint. On the evidence I have seen, the Council provided Mr X with appropriate support. It decided the Mr X’s eligible needs were not high enough to require a care home. It identified several suitable placements which Mr X declined. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman