Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to provide advocacy for him as part of his care assessment and planning and failed to provide him with suitable care and support. The Council was not at fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council:
1. Failed to provide him with suitable advocacy to support him during his care needs assessment;
2. Failed to provide him with advocacy to assist him in bringing his complaints to the Council; and
3. Failed to provide him with the care required to meet his needs at his supported accommodation.
2. Mr X said as a result he has been caused distress, frustration and does not feel his views have been considered properly by the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. 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)
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 or care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
6. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
7. 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

8. In addition to the points of complaint set out in paragraph one, Mr X has raised other issues, which I am not investigating here and I explain why in more detail below.
9. Mr X raised concerns about safeguarding issues at his supported accommodation. This complaint had not completed the Council’s complaints procedure by the time we investigated this case. Once Mr X has received the Council’s final complaint response on this matter, he can bring this to the Ombudsman as a new complaint.
10. Mr X complained that in 2025 he became aware of care planning documents dating back to 2017 which showed he was not included in care planning and assessments for several years. The Council has not yet had an opportunity to respond to this complaint as Mr X only became aware of these documents recently. For the reasons set out in paragraph four, am not investigating this complaint here. Once Mr X has received a final complaint response from the Council about this, it is open to him to bring the matter to the Ombudsman as a new complaint.
11. Mr X complained about his supported accommodation provider and the Council’s decision making regarding his housing. Mr X’s housing authority is a separate council and Mr X needs to raise complaints about his housing with that council directly.
12. Mr X has complained to us about the standard of care he received at his supported accommodation since 2017. Mr X complained to the Council about this in April 2022. The Council responded and signposted Mr X to us if he was dissatisfied with its response. Mr X did not approach the Ombudsman at that time. These complaints are now very late and there is no good reason for us to investigate this far back, as it was reasonable for Mr X to have brought those complaints to us sooner.
13. I have investigated complaints 1a – 1c and my investigation covers 11 May 2023, when the Council began its re-assessment of Mr X’s care needs, up to 12 November 2024, when the Council provided its final complaint response. These are the matters Mr X complained of and which are in time for us to investigate. Any events before or after these dates are referred to only for context.

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How I considered this complaint

14. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as the relevant law, policy and guidance.
15. I considered comments made by Mr X and the Council on draft decisions before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

Care needs assessments and plans

16. The Care Act 2014 gives councils a legal responsibility to provide a care and support plan if a person is assessed as having eligible needs. 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. The assessment must also involve the individual and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved.

Reviewing care and support plans

17. Section 27 of the Care Act 2014 says councils should keep care and support plans under review. The Care and Support Statutory Guidance (the Guidance) says councils should review plans at least every 12 months. Councils should also consider a light touch review six to eight weeks after agreeing and signing off the plan and personal budget.
18. It says other than reviews that are planned annually, a care and support plan may be reviewed due to a change in needs or circumstances that the council becomes aware of, or where a review is requested by the person with care and support needs.

Disagreement with care plans

19. If the plan cannot be agreed with the person, or any other person involved, the council should state the reasons for this and the steps which must be taken to ensure that the plan is signed off.
20. People must not be left without support while a dispute is resolved. If a dispute remains and the council feels that it has taken all reasonable steps to address the situation, it should direct the person to the council’s complaints procedure. (section 10.86 of the Guidance)

Right to advocacy

21. Where someone is unable to fully participate in conversations about their care and support planning, councils are under a duty to arrange an independent advocate to support them during this process.
22. The Guidance says that the Council must also tell the person how to make a complaint and make them aware of the relevant Ombudsman. The Guidance does not say that councils must provide advocacy for people who seek to make a complaint about the Council’s actions.

Background

23. Mr X has some care and support needs and lives in supported accommodation.
24. Council A (this Council) carries duties to Mr X under the Care Act 2014 and funds the adult social care and support provided by staff at Mr X’s supported accommodation.
25. Council B is Mr X’s housing authority. Council B carries a housing duty to Mr X. Council B funds the accommodation and would be responsible for assisting Mr X into alternative accommodation if it decided he needed to move.
26. I am only investigating the actions of Council A and therefore only considering the issues around Mr X’s adult social care. I refer to Council A from now on as the Council.

What happened

27. Mr X’s supported accommodation provider told the Council Mr X had stopped engaging with the social care support provided by onsite staff.
28. The Council’s case records showed there were longstanding issues in the relationship between Mr X and the support staff which affected him receiving care and support over the past few years.
29. The Council decided to carry out a reassessment of Mr X’s care and support needs. It carried out its reassessment over two in-person meetings on 11 May 2023 and 19 June 2023. Mr X attended in person and had an advocate with him in both meetings.
30. The Council sent Mr X its completed reassessment of his needs on 30 June 2023. This said he required support to meet some eligible needs. This was mainly support around managing finances, appointments, timetabling his week, planning food shopping and prompts to complete certain tasks.
31. It noted Mr X’s wellbeing would be at risk if he were not supported in the identified areas. It also noted Mr X should be provided with assistance from support staff to move into alternative accommodation as he had expressed this was his wish.
32. The assessment said the amount of support Mr X required would vary but would be a few times a week and not every day. The Council noted in the assessment that Mr X was not at that time receiving support from staff onsite but said Mr X had now agreed to receive assistance from a specific named support worker at the accommodation.
33. Not long after the reassessment was issued, Mr X told the Council he disagreed with the Council’s assessment of his needs and he made a complaint to the Council. While he was challenging the assessment, the Council kept the reassessment open at draft stage.
34. Mr X continued not to receive support from accommodation staff. The Council became aware of this in late August 2023. The Council said it was ‘not clear’ why staff at the accommodation had not been able to provide the relevant support to Mr X.
35. The Council decided to commission the adult social care support Mr X needed from a separate service – the Enabling Independence Team (EIT) - in early September 2023.
36. Mr X was not available for an initial meeting with the Council to discuss putting in place this new provision in mid-September 2023. He instead asked for the initial meeting to happen on 11 October 2023, so his advocate could attend.
37. The Council met with Mr X and his advocate on 11 October as planned and outlined the support he could access from EIT. Mr X and the Council also discussed Mr X’s concerns about the Council’s recent reassessment of his care needs and agreed to make some amendments.
38. The Council finalised its reassessment in December 2023 to make the following changes. It said:
• an EIT worker would provide Mr X’s support and it also set out the importance of support being provided by a person he has a trusting relationship with;
• it was Mr X’s wish to be supported to move to accommodation that allowed pet ownership; and
• he had experienced overwhelm due to the scheduling of care and support planning appointments with the Council and balancing this with his work commitments.
39. Mr X did not agree with the finalised reassessment and said he wanted to formally challenge this. He complained to the Council.
40. Mr X met with his EIT worker for five sessions in November and December 2023. The EIT worker provided Mr X with support around managing his finances, arranging a cleaner, making his complaint to the Ombudsman, planning food shopping and applying for alternative housing via the housing register.
41. In January 2024 Mr X told the Council the support from EIT was going well. Mr X was made aware that after six sessions, this support would be reviewed and it would either continue for further sessions, or cease, as it was designed to be short-term.
42. In late February 2025, the Council issued Mr X’s care and support plan despite his continued disagreement with the reassessment and considered his complaint through its complaints procedure.
43. Mr X missed all his EIT sessions from mid-January 2024 to late February 2024, leading to EIT deciding to withdraw Mr X from its service due to non-engagement.
44. Between late February 2024 and October 2024 the Council tried to carry out another assessment of Mr X’s needs due to this change in his care provision. Emails from this time show professionals struggled to contact him to progress this. Mr X did not receive the care and support in his care plan during this time due to the relationship breakdown between him and the supported accommodation staff.
45. By November 2024 the Council was able to carry out a reassessment of Mr X’s needs, which identified his care needs and support required to meet them. Again Mr X was supported by an advocate during this process. By this time, Mr X was being evicted from his supported accommodation so it recommended support that could be put in place in future. It noted he would benefit from a low-level supported accommodation, with the goal of him moving into his own property.
46. Mr X raised several complaints to the Council. He said:
• The Council failed to provide him with the care and support he needed;
• His care assessments were inadequate and he was not provided with suitable advocacy; and
• The Council failed to provide him with an advocate to help him complain to the Council.
47. The Council responded to his complaints on 5 March 2024 and 12 November 2024 and did not uphold his complaints. The Council said he was provided with advocacy throughout the care and support planning process in May and June 2023 was comprehensive.
48. It said it did not need to provide him with advocacy to make complaints to the Council. However it noted its current advocacy organisations did not provide support with complaints and said it would consider this when commissioning advocacy services in future.
49. Regarding the difficulties he had meeting care and support assessment deadlines, it said he was provided with several extensions and it did not agree it failed to support him with this.
50. The Council also did not agree that it had failed to put in place suitable care and support provision. It said he received suitable support from EIT before he stopped engaging with it.
51. Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s response and complained to the Ombudsman.

My findings

Complaint 1a) Failed to provide Mr X with suitable advocacy to support him during his care needs assessment

52. During the period I have investigated the Council assessed Mr X’s care needs and the support required to meet them several times. During these meetings Mr X’s advocate attended and the assessments reflected Mr X’s views conveyed by himself as well as his advocate. Mr X was supported by an advocate during the care assessment process and the Council was not at fault.

Complaint 1b) Failed to provide him with advocacy to assist him in bringing his complaints to the Council

53. The Council was not under any legal duty to provide Mr X with advocacy to assist him in raising a complaint about the Council. There is also no evidence that Mr X lacked the capacity to bring a complaint to the Council. The Council was not at fault. However it is welcome that the Council has identified that the advocacy services it currently uses do not provide support with complaints and said this is something it will consider when commissioning services in future.

Complaint 1c) Failed to provide Mr X with the care required to meet his needs at his supported accommodation

54. The Council decided in its reassessment of 30 June 2023 that Mr X had care needs and required support to meet them. It initially arranged for a named member of support staff at the accommodation to provide this support. This support was then not provided and the reasons for this are unclear from the Council’s records. The Council checked on the provision within eight weeks of the changes coming into force and after it became aware it was not going well, it commissioned a separate service to provide the support to Mr X. The actions it took were in line with the law and statutory guidance. The Council was not at fault.
55. Once support was in place through EIT, this provision went well and Mr X received the relevant care and support. However Mr X stopped engaging with this and was discharged from the service in February 2024, shortly before his sessions were due to be reviewed and potentially ceased. Mr X then did not engage with the Council’s multiple attempts to reassess his needs between February 2024 and November 2024. From November 2024, Mr X engaged with the process and a new assessment and care plan was issued.
56. Mr X did not receive all the care and support in his plan from February 2024 to November 2024. However this was due to Mr X’s lack of engagement with EIT and later with his lack of engagement in his care planning and assessment. The Council made the efforts we would expect to try and carry out its care planning with Mr X during this time and was not at fault.

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Decision

57. I find no fault by the Council.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman