Summary: Mr F complained the Council failed to provide him with a social worker or any care and support in autumn 2024. We found no fault.

The complaint

1. Mr F complained the Council failed to provide him with a social worker or any care and support when he moved into independent living accommodation in October 2024. This caused his mental health to deteriorate.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from the Council, including the care and support assessments and relevant social care case records.
5. Mr F and the Council 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

Relevant law and guidance

Care and support

6. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. The assessment determines what the person's needs are and whether the person has any needs which are eligible for support from the council. Where councils have determined that a person has any eligible needs, they must meet those needs. The person's needs and how they will be met must be set out in a care and support plan. Councils should keep care and support plans under review.

What happened

7. I have set out the key events. This does not describe everything that happened.
8. Mr F has mental health and care and support needs. He was living in supported living accommodation. His care and support plan said he needed prompting for personal hygiene and nutrition and two-to-one care due to risk of self-harm.
9. The Council reviewed Mr F’s care and support needs in July 2024. Mr F said he was not being supported in his accommodation and had not been staying there. He had not been engaging with the carers, had been independent with eating and personal care, and had been managing his daily living activities. He no longer wished to live in supported accommodation and wanted to move into his own, independent accommodation. He no longer needed care and support.
10. The Council met with Mr F’s mental health professionals on 19 September. The meeting agreed that Mr F should move into his own accommodation if he wished to.
11. A flat was found and Mr F moved in on 17 October. The care and support plan ended but the Council’s social care team supported him with twice weekly phone calls and some visits.
12. Mr F told the Council that living in the flat was making him anxious. In November the social work manager discussed Mr F’s care and support needs with him. She noted that he had been managing his personal care and nutritional needs independently. His mental health needs would be supported by the mental health team. Any antisocial behaviour by neighbours needed to be reported to the police or antisocial behaviour team. The Council was trying to arrange a support worker to help Mr F with tenancy issues. The social workers’ phone calls and visits would end at Christmas, as by then Mr F would be settled in his flat.
13. In March 2025, there was a safeguarding alert as Mr F had self-harmed and was feeling suicidal. He said he could not live in the flat. The Council referred Mr F for a care and support assessment and to the homelessness team if he wished to be re-housed.
14. Mr F came to the Ombudsman. We referred him to the Council as he had not completed the Council’s complaints procedure.
15. The Council sent a complaint response to Mr F on 13 May. It said the care and support package had ended when Mr F moved out of supported accommodation as he no longer needed it. Mr F had not needed a social care support worker in autumn 2024 because a housing officer had helped Mr F with housing benefit and rent. The Council had no evidence it had offered to allocate a social worker but social workers had responded to his calls after he had left supported accommodation.
16. Mr F came back to the Ombudsman and asked the Council to escalate his complaint. The Council sent a further complaint response on 30 June. This upheld the Council’s first response.

My findings

17. It is not the Ombudsman's role to decide what, if any, care and support a person needs. That is the council's role. The Ombudsman's role is to consider if the council has followed the correct process to assess a person's needs. In doing so we look at what information the council considered, and if it took account of the service user’s wishes. If a council considers all this information properly, the Ombudsman cannot find a council at fault just because a service user disagrees with the outcome of an assessment or the Council’s decision.
18. I have considered the care and support needs review carried out in July 2024. It describes Mr F's needs and how Mr F no longer wished to receive care and support or live in a supported living placement. There is no evidence of fault in the way it was carried out. I therefore cannot criticise the Council’s decision to end the care package when Mr F left supported living accommodation.
19. I have seen no evidence the Council offered to allocate a social worker in autumn 2024. The social work team supported Mr F during his transition to independent living with regular phone calls and visits. A housing officer supported him with tenancy issues and benefits. Mr F’s mental health needs are for the NHS mental health team to support, rather than the Council.
20. I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with Mr F’s care and support needs from October 2024.

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Decision

21. There was no fault by the Council. I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman