Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to arrange his transfer to another local authority area, started and stopped the transfer process three times and failed to tell him the Council was not responsible for arranging a housing transfer until 2024. The way the Council reached the decision that it was not responsible for Mr X’s housing transfer was not affected by fault. However, the Council’s communications with Mr X and Mrs Y have been confused. That raised their expectations and caused them frustration now the accurate position has been explained. An apology, payment to Mr X and Mrs Y, alongside training for officers, is satisfactory remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, is represented by his sister, Mrs Y. Mr X complained the Council:
• failed to arrange for his transfer to another local authority area when he asked for it;
• started and stopped the transfer process three times between 2021 and 2024; and
• did not tell him or his family the Council was not responsible for arranging a housing transfer until 2024.
2. Mr X says the Council’s actions have caused him and Mrs Y distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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. 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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. 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. 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. Part of the complaint relates to information the Council gave Mr X in 2021 and 2022. The Ombudsman will not normally consider a complaint about matters which occurred more than 12 months ago, based on the person’s date of knowledge about when things went wrong. In this case Mr X says the Council gave him different information about its role in any housing transfer process in 2022 and 2023, compared to what the Council said in 2024. I therefore consider Mr X’s date of knowledge about when something may have gone wrong in his case was March 2024. As Mr X complained to the Ombudsman within 12 months of March 2024 I do not consider the earlier period outside our jurisdiction.

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How I considered this complaint

8. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint, Mrs Y's comments and the documentary evidence Mrs Y provided;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided.
9. Mr X, Mrs Y and the organisation 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

The Care Act 2014

10. A council must carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the outcomes they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where appropriate their carer or any other person they might want involved. (Care Act 2014, section 9)
11. The Care Act spells out the duty to meet eligible needs (needs which meet the eligibility criteria). (Care Act 2014, section 18)
12. An adult’s needs meet the eligibility criteria if they arise from or are related to a physical or mental impairment or illness and as a result the adult cannot achieve two or more of the following outcomes and as a result there is or is likely to be a significant impact on well-being:
• managing and maintaining nutrition;
• maintaining personal hygiene;
• managing toilet needs;
• being appropriately clothed;
• making use of the home safely;
• maintaining a habitable home environment;
• accessing work, training, education;
• making use of facilities or services in the community;
• carrying out caring responsibilities.

The care and support statutory guidance

13. Paragraph 20.1 says people with care and support needs may decide to move home, such as to be closer to family or to pursue education or employment opportunities, or because they want to live in another area. Where they decide to move to a new area and as a result their ordinary residence status changes, it is important to ensure care and support is in place during the move, so the person's wellbeing is maintained.
14. Paragraph 20.2 says where a person is receiving local authority support and moves within their current local authority, they would remain ordinarily resident within that authority and it must continue to meet their needs. Where the person chooses to live in a different local authority area, the local authority that is currently arranging care and support and the authority to which they are moving must work together to ensure that there is no interruption to the person's care and support.
15. Paragraph 20.10 says the continuity of care process starts when the second authority is notified of the adult's intention to move. Local authorities may find out about the person's intention to move from the individual directly or through someone acting on their behalf, who may contact either the first authority or the second authority to tell them of their intentions. If the person has approached the first authority and informed them of their intention to move, the first authority should make contact with the second authority to tell them the person is planning on moving to their area.
16. Paragraph 20.13 says when the second authority is satisfied the person's intentions to move are genuine, it must provide the adult and the carer if also intending to move, with accessible information about the care and support available in its area. This should include but is not limited to, details about:
• the types of care and support available to people with similar needs, so the adult can know how they are likely to be affected by differences in the range of services available;
• support for carers;
• the local care market and organisations that could meet their needs;
• the local authority's charging policy, including any charges which the person may be expected to meet for particular services in that area.
17. Paragraph 20.20 says when the first authority has been notified by the second authority that it is satisfied that the person's intention to move is genuine, the first authority must provide it with:
• a copy of the person's most recent care and support plan;
• a copy of the most recent support plan where the person's carer is moving with them;
• any other information relating to the person or the carer (whether or not the carer has needs for support), that the second authority may request.

What happened

18. Mr X has learning disabilities and health conditions and lives in residential supported living accommodation arranged by the Council. Mr X lived near his father, who sadly died in 2021. Mrs Y is his sister and lives in a different local authority area several hours away from Mr X.
19. On 17 March 2022 Mr X told the Council’s social worker he would like to move to the area his sister lived in, in about a years time. The social worker told Mr X the Council would need to complete a mental capacity assessment to see if he had capacity to make that decision.
20. The Council’s social worker emailed Mrs Y on 23 March to explain what Mr X had said. The note the social worker kept said they told Mrs Y the Council would allocate a new social worker in six months to start the process of supporting Mr X to move.
21. The Council carried out a mental capacity assessment in October 2022. That decided Mr X understood what moving house entailed and could weigh up and retain information and therefore he had capacity to make that decision.
22. On 27 April 2023 following a hospital stay the Council’s social worker visited Mr X to discuss how he was coping with the package of care. Mr X said in the longer term he wanted to live closer to his sister.
23. In October 2023 Mrs Y emailed the Council and asked for an update on the arrangements for transferring Mr X to the other local authority’s area. Mrs Y chased the Council about that in December 2023.
24. On 14 March 2024 the Council emailed Mrs Y to tell her it did not have a duty to aid or support Mr X with moving areas. The Council offered to contact the other local authority to tell it Mr X wanted to move into its area.
25. Mrs Y asked the Council to clarify that as she had understood the Council would arrange the housing move. In response the Council reiterated it did not have a duty to fulfil Mr X’s desire to move to the other local authority area as the Council had provided Mr X with accommodation and support that met his assessed needs. The Council said the other local authority may offer Mr X a Care Act assessment if he moved.
26. The Council’s social worker contacted Mrs Y on 12 April. In that email the social worker told Mrs Y the legal team had misadvised them and another social worker would pick up the task around the move to another local authority area. Later in April the Council shared Mr X’s information with the other local authority.
27. Mrs Y chased the Council for progress on the move to the other local authority area on 29 April. The new social worker told Mrs Y the Council had shared information with the other local authority. The social worker explained as part of getting to know Mr X they would discuss the move with him so the social worker could understand his wishes and support him.
28. On 21 August the Council met with Mrs Y. The Council told Mrs Y it would not get involved in sorting out the housing transfer to another local authority’s area as it was not the Council’s decision for Mr X to move.
29. Since then the Council has asked Mr X’s care provider to help him put in a housing register application to the other local authority, which has now been done. I also understand the Council has provided Mr X with some details of potentially suitable schemes in the other local authority’s area.

Analysis

30. Mrs Y says the Council failed to arrange for Mr X’s transfer to another local authority’s area to be closer to her when he asked for it. Mrs Y says the Council stopped and started the transfer process three times between 2021 and 2024. Mrs Y says the Council did not tell her or Mr X it was not responsible for arranging the housing transfer until 2024.
31. In response to my enquiries the Council was clear it does not consider it has responsibility for arranging Mr X’s transfer to another local authority’s area. That is because the Council says it has assessed Mr X’s care needs and has put in place care provision, including accommodation, which meets his needs. The Council says because of that it has no responsibility to arrange Mr X’s housing transfer.
32. I have no reason to criticise the Council for that decision as it is in line with the care and support statutory guidance. As the Council says, it has a duty to meet unmet needs and has put in place care provision and accommodation which meets Mr X’s needs.
33. While I appreciate Mr X wants to move to be closer to his sister I am satisfied the Council does not have a responsibility to make those arrangements. Nor is the Council in control of the other local authority’s housing allocation. The Council must ensure Mr X receives care and that there are no gaps in his care provision when he moves to a different area. However, that is not the same as saying the Council has a responsibility to make the housing transfer arrangements. I therefore consider the Council has acted properly here by telling the other local authority about Mr X wanting to move into its area and by arranging for the care provider to help Mr X put in his housing register application and supporting evidence and to bid on properties.
34. Mrs Y says Mr X asked the Council for a transfer to the other local authority area in 2021 and the Council began the transfer process three times but then changed its view. I have seen no evidence to suggest Mr X said in 2021 he wanted to move closer to his sister straightaway. Instead, the documentary evidence I have seen shows Mr X told the Council’s social worker in 2022 he wanted to move closer to his sister in maybe a years’ time. I have therefore seen no evidence to suggest Mr X had consistently asked to move straightaway from 2021.
35. I am concerned though about the Council’s communications with Mrs Y about the move closer to her. Often those communications have not been clear and likely misled Mrs Y into believing the Council was responsible for the housing transfer arrangements. In particular, I note when writing to Mrs Y in March 2022 the Council said it would appoint a social worker in six months to help Mr X move to the other local authority area. I am not sure whether that is because the officer dealing with the case did not understand the Council’s responsibility about transferring housing or because the officer was referring to the transfer of care arrangements. However, the email could be interpreted either way and is therefore unclear. That is fault and misled Mrs Y.
36. I am also concerned the Council failed to correct Mrs Y’s understanding when she chased the Council about the move in October and December 2023. In those communications with the Council Mrs Y was clear she believed the Council was trying to transfer Mr X’s housing to another local authority area. The Council problem should have told Mr X it was not doing that and did not consider it had a responsibility to do so. Failure to do that is fault and meant Mrs Y continued to believe the Council was arranging the housing transfer.
37. I am satisfied the Council was clear with Mr X and his representative in March 2024 it would not be responsible for the housing transfer. However, an officer from the Council contacted Mrs Y again in April 2024 to say the Council’s legal department had misadvised him. In that email the officer told Mrs Y, for the move to another Council’s area, when the Council allocated another social worker it would continue that piece of work. Again, that is not clear about whether the officer was referring to the transfer of care or the housing transfer. It is unsurprising in those circumstances Mrs Y believed the Council was intending to arrange the housing move.
38. That was followed by the new social worker telling Mrs Y in June 2024 they were working on Mr X’s desire to move to the other local authority area in the background. That again suggested the Council was involved in the housing transfer when it was not and that misled Mrs Y and is fault.
39. As with the information given in March 2022 I cannot say whether the officers dealing with the case had misunderstood the Council’s responsibility for a housing transfer or whether they were referring to the transfer of care arrangements. Either way, I am satisfied the Council’s communications misled Mr X and Mrs Y as the Council never considered it had any responsibility to arrange a housing transfer, as it explained in August 2024.
40. Mrs Y says one of Mr X’s social workers said he had carried out a similar transfer for another service user. The Council has confirmed after checking that social worker’s previous caseload the transfer in question was for somebody without mental capacity who lived in residential care. The Council’s responsibilities for a person without mental capacity or when a person is in residential care are different to those for someone like Mr X who has mental capacity and is living in supported accommodation. In those circumstances the Council does not have a responsibility to arrange housing transfers and I therefore cannot criticise it for referring Mrs Y to the other local authority.
41. So, I am satisfied the Council’s communications with Mr X and Mrs Y misled them and caused them frustration and upset. As remedy I recommended the Council apologise to both and pay them £300 each. I also recommended the Council hold a training session for social workers around the Council’s responsibilities when a service user with mental capacity says they want to move to another Council’s area when that person does not require residential accommodation. That should cover the Council’s responsibilities around transferring social care and the separate process for any housing transfer. The Council has agreed to my recommendations.

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Action

42. Within one month of my decision the Council should:
• apologise to Mr X and Mrs Y for the frustration and upset they experienced due to the faults identified in this decision. The Council may want to refer to the Ombudsman’s updated guidance on remedies, which sets out the standards we expect apologies to meet;
• pay Mr X £300; and
• pay Mrs Y £300.
43. Within three months of my decision the Council should carry out a training session for social workers. That should cover the Council’s responsibilities around transferring care when a service user moves into another council’s area and the differences between that and responsibility for transferring a service user from one accommodation to another in a different council area.
44. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman