Summary: I ended this investigation into Mrs X’s complaint about a lack of care and support from the Council since 2019. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and no worthwhile outcome achievable. Also, elements of Mrs X’s complaint prior to 2024 are either late or have already been investigated in previous Ombudsman investigations.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about a lack of a care and support from the Council since 2019. She complained:
1. Her care package remained the same since 2019 despite increases in her needs.
2. The Council refused to include cooking in her care package.
3. The Council refused to provide help de-cluttering her home.
4. Of inappropriate conduct and theft from carers and that her concerns were not investigated.
5. The Council failed to ensure she had any care and support in place during 2025.
2. Mrs X said the lack of support has caused her distress and has affected her wellbeing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Mrs 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

What happened

Background

6. Mrs X lives at home independently but has had a home care and support package for some time. This involved three to four visits per day from carers to help her with personal care, medication, food preparation and help before bedtime. Records show Mrs X’s home is in poor condition and there is evidence of significant hoarding.
7. We investigated a previous complaint from Mrs X in 2023 about the quality of care she received from care agencies.

Mrs X’s care and support 2019-2024

8. 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)
9. Mrs X complained to us in March 2025. Parts of Mrs X’s complaints were about how the Council handled her care dating back to 2019 including not providing support with cooking in her care package. The period 2019 up to March 2024 is either late or complaints have been addressed in the previous Ombudsman investigation. It was reasonable for Mrs X to have complained to us earlier or to have raised these issues when she previously complained to us about her other concerns about her care and support.

Refusing to help de-clutter her home

10. Case records show the Council has offered help and assistance on numerous occasions during 2025 to help Mrs X de-clutter her home. This includes referrals to the Council’s High Risk hoarding panel and offers to help her move home. A de-clutter was arranged in mid-2025 at a significant cost to the Council which Mrs X cancelled. Mrs X has so far refused all offers of help and continues to do so. The Council is continuing to provide support and its offer of help stands going forward. There is insufficient evidence of fault with regards to this to justify further investigation.

Allegations of theft from carers and inappropriate conduct

11. We have previously investigated Mrs X’s complaints about carer conduct. Mrs X was advised to report allegations of theft to the police which is the appropriate body to investigate crime. Further investigation would unlikely find fault or achieve a worthwhile outcome for Mrs X.

Care and support between 2024 and 2025

12. Records show the Council carried out a care needs assessment for Mrs X in April 2024 which showed her needs had not changed. This included informing Mrs X that although carers would help with heating or re-heating food they do not prepare meals from scratch. Mrs X continued to receive home care and support up to January 2025 when she cancelled her care package. Following another care needs assessment in August 2025 a new care and support package began in September 2025.
13. The period during 2025 where Mrs X was without care and support was because she cancelled and refused care however case notes show social worker involvement throughout. Further investigation into this element of her complaint would be unlikely to find fault and as she now has care and support in place there is no worthwhile outcome achievable through further investigation.

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Decision

14. I ended this investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault and no worthwhile outcome achievable.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman