Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council managed Miss Y’s care needs and that it did not complete a carer’s assessment for her. We find the Council at fault, causing uncertainty and frustration and meaning Mrs X had to provide additional support for Miss Y. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to recognise the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has not given Miss Y the hours of support she is entitled to or met her care needs. Mrs X also complains the Council has not completed a carer’s assessment despite requests. Mrs X says this has impacted Miss Y’s ability to manage her wellbeing, home and safety and meant her family had to provide additional care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)
4. 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)
5. 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

6. We cannot investigate complaints about events that took place more than 12 months before they were raised with us. We can only exercise discretion to look back further if there are good reasons to do so.
7. Mrs X first contacted the Ombudsman in August 2024, meaning anything that took place before August 2023 has been raised late. Mrs X has said she did not bring her complaint to us sooner as she was attempting to resolve the issues involved with the Council first, however I have seen no good reason why she could not have contacted the Ombudsman sooner.
8. We also cannot usually investigate complaints unless we are satisfied the Council has had a chance to look into them first. This includes events that are linked to or ongoing from the complaint that has been brought to us.
9. Mrs X has said she is still experiencing issues with the Council since it responded to her complaint and she brought it to the Ombudsman in August 2024. However, any issues that have been ongoing since that time would need to be raised with the Council first to give it a chance to respond.
10. For these reasons, I have investigated Mrs X’s complaint from August 2023 up until August 2024. Any mention to events that took place outside of that timeframe are for reference only.

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How I considered this complaint

11. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
12. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and policy

13. Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 require councils to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. They must provide an assessment to everyone regardless of their finances or whether the council thinks the person has eligible needs. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved.
14. The Care Act 2014 gives councils a legal responsibility to provide a care and support plan (or a support plan for a carer). The care and support plan should consider what needs the person has, what they want to achieve, what they can do by themselves or with existing support and what care and support may be available in the local area. When preparing a care and support plan the council must involve any carer the adult has. The support plan must include a personal budget, which is the money the council has worked out it will cost to arrange the necessary care and support for that person.
15. Where somebody provides or intends to provide care for another adult and it appears the carer may have any needs for support, the council must carry out a carer’s assessment. A carer’s assessment must seek to find out not only the carer’s needs for support, but also the sustainability of the caring role itself. This includes the practical and emotional support the carer provides to the adult.
16. As part of the carer’s assessment, the council must consider the carer’s potential future needs for support. It must also consider whether the carer is, and will continue to be, able and willing to care for the adult needing care. (Care and Support Statutory Guidance 2014)

What happened

17. I have summarised below some key events leading to Mrs X’s complaint. While I have considered everything submitted, this is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
18. Miss Y lives in a supported living facility. Miss Y’s support plan provided for:
• support two days a week to assist with community activities and developing new skills.
• Direct payment for transport to and from work three times a week
• 10 hours per week of support to assist with tasks such as food preparation, laundry, and any welfare issues.
• Five hours of support weekly through the assisted living facility for tasks such as shopping and health appointments.
19. The Council has said that from the start point of my investigation, Miss Y was receiving six, rather than the full 10 hours of support with tasks such as food preparation, laundry and welfare issues. The Council has said it made a referral for another provider to cover the four missing hours in December 2023. The Council said it sourced a second provider to deliver the remaining four hours from March 2024.
20. The Council has also said that from the start point of my investigation, Miss Y was only receiving two hours of support per week from the assisted living facility rather than the five set out in her plan. The Council has said Miss Y began receiving the correct support hours from October 2023. However, the Council has said it was not informed that Miss Y was not receiving the correct support hours until April 2024, by which point the hours had been reinstated.
21. The Council’s records show Mrs X raised concerns about weekend support in August 2023 but this was not followed up on.
22. From February 2024 Miss Y’s support plan was updated to reflect that the 10 hours of support with tasks such as food preparation, laundry, and any welfare issues was split between two care providers. One delivered six hours per week on weekdays, and the other provided four hours per week on weekends. Other than this, the care and support plan remained the same.
23. The Council has said the support listed within this plan was provided to Miss Y correctly up until the end point of my investigation.
24. In response to our enquiries, the Council agreed it ought to have referred Mrs X for a carer’s assessment in August 2023 when she raised concerns about weekend support. The Council said it has now reminded its team of the need to advise carers of the right to a carer’s assessment and has been working to ensure its practitioners can identify when a carer’s assessment is needed, even if not explicitly requested. The Council has said it completed a carer’s assessment for Mrs X in March 2025.

Analysis

25. From the start point of my investigation, in August 2023, Miss Y was not receiving all the support set out in her care and support plan. For the first two months I have investigated, Miss Y received reduced hours from her assisted living facility. For the first seven months I have investigated, Miss Y received reduced hours from the provider responsible for providing 10 hours per week of support to assist with tasks such as food preparation, laundry, and any welfare issues. This is fault and caused frustration and distress for Miss Y and Mrs X, which is injustice. As a result, Mrs X had to provide additional care and support for Miss Y to ensure her needs were met, this is additional injustice.
26. In August 2023 Mrs X contacted the Council to raise concerns about weekend support. At this point the Council ought to have referred Mrs X for a carer’s assessment. That it did not do so is fault. This caused frustration for Mrs X and uncertainty around what support she should have had, which is injustice. The Council has already worked with its staff to ensure they are identifying when carers assessments are needed, even if not specifically asked for, and I find this is suitable action to prevent a recurrence of the fault going forward. The Council has also apologised to Mrs X and completed a carer’s assessment for her. I find this goes some way towards addressing the personal injustice to Mrs X, however I find the Council ought to take further action to address this.

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Action

27. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified above, the Council has agreed to complete the following actions within one month of the date of this decision:
• Write to Mrs X and Miss Y to apologise for failing to ensure Miss Y received all the support identified in her care and support plan and for the delay in completing a carer’s assessment for Mrs X. 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.
• Pay Miss Y £300 to recognise the frustration and uncertainty caused by the failure to ensure she received all the support hours set out in her care and support plan between August 2023 and August 2024.
• Pay Mrs X £300 to recognise the frustration and uncertainty caused by the failure to ensure Miss Y received the correct care hours between August 2023 and August 2024 and the delays in completing a carer’s assessment.
28. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

29. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman