Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council completed a care needs assessment. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about how the Council assessed her need for overnight care. She said the Council delayed in deciding if she need the support and whether it would give her a direct payment. Mrs X said the Council’s actions had caused her health to deteriorate. She wants the Council to agree the direct payment and allow her to employ her daughter to provider her overnights care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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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 received a package of care arranged by the Council. In August 2024, the Council reassessed Mrs X care needs. During that assessment, her daughter, Ms Y explained Mrs X‘s needs had increased and that she needed up to five hours support at night. Mrs X wanted direct payments for Ms Y to provide her overnight care. She said she did not feel comfortable with care staff providing her nighttime support.
6. The Council contacted Mrs X‘s health provider and asked for additional information about her health to assess her need for overnight support. It also asked Ms Y to keep a record of the support she was providing to Mrs X. The Council said it would not agree direct payments at the outset but offered to arrange care provision whilst it assessed Mrs X’s overnight care needs. It explained its direct payment policy did not permit the payment of a direct family member, unless there were exceptional circumstances. It said it would need to explore and exhaust all other sources of support first.
7. Although Mrs X is unhappy with how the Council has considered her request for overnight care, we will not investigate this complaint. The Council did not agree direct payments at the outset as it had not assessed Mrs X’s overnight care needs. We would not be critical of that decision. The Council took appropriate action to get the information it needed to assess Mrs X’s overnight care needs. It sought advice from health and asked Ms Y for additional information. It also offered to commission care whilst it was completing its assessment. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
8. The Council explained it would exhaust all other care options before agreeing a direct payment for a family member. That decision was taken in line with its policy. There is not enough evidence of fault in how it made that decision to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman