Summary: We have upheld this complaint about the Council delaying an annual carer’s assessment in 2023 without needing to investigate. The Council has agreed to make a payment equivalent to the grant it would likely have made in 2023 and to apologise. This is a suitable remedy for the effect of its delay.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council failed to complete her annual carer’s assessment, with the result in did not consider or provide a carer’s grant as it has done in the years before and after.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X says the Council cancelled her annual carer’s assessment in 2023 without her knowledge, and this led to her not being properly considered for receiving an annual carer’s grant.
6. The Council carried out an investigation and found that there were shortfalls in its internal processes, which meant Mrs X was not suitably updated nor offered a prompt follow-up assessment after she challenged an earlier one.
7. If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing Mrs X injustice, in that Mrs X did not receive a suitable assessment, nor proper consideration of eligibility for the associated annual carer’s grant in 2023.
8. We asked the Council to agree to write to Mrs X within one month to apologise for the lack of assessment and to offer her a payment of £150, which is a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the likely fault. To its credit, the Council has agreed.

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Final decision

9. We have upheld Mrs X’s complaint without needing to investigate because the Council has agreed to resolve the matter by providing a suitable remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman