Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to take steps to ensure Ms Y’s finances were managed. The Council was at fault for not putting an appointee in place for Ms Y, meaning she did not have access to funds while in residential care, however the Council has already remedied the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains Ms Y has not received money she is entitled to for the past five years and that the Council has failed to put in place an appointee to deal with her finances. Miss X also says there has been a lack of clarity about what has happened to Ms Y’s home and money. Miss X says this has caused uncertainty, prevented Ms Y from buying what she needs, and has led to her owing her care home money.

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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 may investigate complaints from the person affected by the complaint issues, or from someone else if they have given their consent. If the person affected cannot give their consent, we may investigate a complaint from a person we decide is a suitable representative. (section 26A or 34C, Local Government Act 1974)
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. 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)
6. 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

7. We cannot usually investigate complaints about events that took place more than 12 months before a complainant contacted the Ombudsman. We can only exercise discretion to look back further if there are good reasons to do so.
8. Miss X first brought this complaint to the Ombudsman in August 2024, meaning anything that happened before August 2023 has been raised late.
9. The events Miss X complains about go back to 2020. While part of the complaint has been brought to us late, Ms Y was living with dementia throughout that time and Miss X raised the complaint as soon as she became aware there may be an issue. For this reason, I have exercised discretion to investigate from when Ms Y moved into Care Home B in 2020.
10. 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.
11. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint in August 2024, so I have investigated up to that point. If Miss X wants us to consider any events that have occurred since August 2024, she will first need to raise them with the Council to give it an opportunity to respond.
12. Any reference below to events that took place before 2020 or after August 2024 are for reference only.

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How I considered this complaint

13. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
14. Miss 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

15. 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.
16. 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.
17. Under the Care Act 2014, a Personal Expense Allowance (PEA) is an amount of money residential care residents receive as income to allow funds for personal spending.
18. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is the framework for acting and deciding for people who lack the mental capacity to make particular decisions for themselves.
19. The Act (and the Code of Practice 2007) describes the steps a person should take when dealing with someone who may lack capacity to make decisions for themselves.
20. A friend or family member can become an appointee for someone with the DWP if they have difficulty managing their benefits independently. The appointee can manage that person’s meetings and paperwork in relation to their benefits.
21. However, this is a separate process to Power of Attorney or Deputyship, as these are court appointed, and this enables someone to manage a person’s money directly on their behalf.

What happened

22. I have summarised below some key events leading to this complaint. While I have considered everything submitted, this is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
23. Ms Y has dementia and lacks capacity to make decisions for herself. In 2020, Ms Y moved from Care Home A to Care Home B. Ms Y’s financial arrangements did not carry over to Care Home B and she ceased receiving a PEA.
24. In November 2021, the manager of Care Home B contacted the Council to request an advocate to support with Ms Y’s finances. There is no evidence to show how the Council acted on this request.
25. In September 2022 the manager of Care Home B contacted the Council again to ask what was being done to enable Ms Y to access her finances and explained arrangements had not transferred when she moved. The Council explained it would seek an appointee to manage Ms Y’s accounts, but it could not say how long this process was likely to take.
26. The Council has said there was a long waiting list to gain an appointee for Ms Y. The Council has said it continued to reassess Ms Y’s finances during this time and Miss X chased updates on the process. The Council has explained that at this time, its in-house appointeeship team did not have capacity to take on any other clients, which is why Ms Y had to join a waiting list for an appointee elsewhere.
27. Miss X complained to the Council on behalf of Ms Y in January 2024. Miss X explained Ms Y lacked the capacity to manage her finances and had had no access to money or a PEA since moving into Care Home B. Miss X said Care Home B’s manager had complained to the Council 18 months ago and it had applied for an appointee but not taken this any further. Miss X explained that, as a result of not receiving a PEA, Ms Y had been reliant on Care Home B to provide toiletries and chiropody and the charity of care home workers to provide clothing. Miss X asked the Council to ensure Ms Y had access to her PEA and act to ensure her finances were managed going forward. Miss X also asked the Council to review its policy to ensure this did not happen to other people in similar circumstances.
28. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint in February 2024. The Council confirmed Ms Y’s financial arrangements had not transferred when she moved to Care Home B. The Council apologised for the delay and confirmed it had made an application for an appointee to ensure appropriate arrangements were in place to allow Ms Y to access her PEA. The Council said it had used this complaint to inform learning and service improvement and offered to pay Ms Y £400 in recognition of the injustice identified.
29. Miss X responded to the Council to ask if it could confirm how it would monitor and chase up the referral for an appointee. Miss X also provided details of Care Home B’s account so it could receive the £400 and use this to purchase clothes for Ms Y.
30. The Council has said that as of December 2024, its appointeeship team had capacity and took over appointeeship for Ms Y and began to make her PEA available to Care Home B. Since then, it has also applied for a deputyship. The Council has also said Care Home B has confirmed Ms Y has no debt to it. The Council has also confirmed its records do not show any other service users have experienced similar issues in the last 12 months.

Analysis

31. Ms Y did not have access to a PEA and her finances were not managed since the time she moved into Care Home B in 2020. The Council was aware of this since 2021, but it does not appear to have acted to resolve the situation. This is fault and would have caused considerable distress for Ms Y until the situation was resolved, which is injustice.
32. However, the Council’s appointeeship team has now taken over appointeeship for Ms Y, which I find resolves any ongoing injustice. The Council has also paid Ms Y £400 to recognise the injustice caused by the delay in resolving this and I find that is a suitable remedy for the injustice Ms Y experienced until this issue was resolved.

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Decision

33. I find the Council was at fault for delays in ensuring Ms Y’s finances were managed, but it has now acted to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman