Summary: The Council was at fault for delaying assessing Ms X for adaptations to her property. As a result Ms X has not been able to wash properly and has had to wait much longer than she should for the Council to agree to adaptations. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise to Ms X, make a payment to her to recognise the delays she experienced and carry out a service improvement.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council did not process a referral for adaptations to her property. As a result she has had to wait much longer for the Council to agree she needs a wet room.
2. Ms X said she finds washing very difficult in her current bathroom and cannot use the bath meaning she has to wash herself using the sink.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have only investigated matters up until December 2024. This was when the Council decided what adaptations were needed at Ms X’s property and told her landlord about this.
6. For events after this, such as when the disabled facilities grant application was made, Ms X will need to make a complaint in the first instance if she believes there has been any fault by the Council processing her disabled facilities grant application.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Ms 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

Law and guidance

9. Disabled Facilities Grants are provided under the terms of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. Councils have a statutory duty to give grants to disabled people for certain adaptations. Before approving a grant, a council must be satisfied the work is necessary, meets the disabled person’s needs, and is reasonable and practicable.
10. In March 2022 the government issued non-statutory guidance “Disabled facilities Grant (DFG) Delivery: Guidance for local authorities in England.
11. This guidance advises councils in England on how they can effectively and efficiently deliver DFG funded adaptations to best serve the needs of local older and disabled people. It brings together and sets out in one place existing policy frameworks, legislative duties and powers, together with recommended best practice, to help councils provide an adaptation service to disabled tenants and residents in their area.
12. The March 2022 guidance identifies key stages to delivering home adaptations:
• Stage 1: First contact with the service. Councils should ensure the public has access to information and advice about the DFG process.
• Stage 2: First contact to assessment and identification of the relevant works. An occupational therapist (OT) will assess the person’s needs and potential solutions through home adaptations.
• Stage 3: Identification of the relevant works to submission of the formal grant application. The person completes and submits the application form together with designs and costing for the works (where necessary).

What happened

13. Ms X has significant disabilities. Her current property has a bath and Ms X cannot use this due to her disabilities. As a result she has to wash herself using only the sink.
14. In March 2023, an occupational therapist (OT) made a referral to the Council for Ms X so she could be assessed for a wet room.
15. Ms X did not hear anything further from this referral. After speaking with her GP, they contacted the Council on her behalf in January 2024. The referral explained Ms X was supposed to be assessed for a wet room.
16. In late January 2024, the Council contacted Ms X. It allocated her case to an officer in February 2024 and on 5 March 2024, the Council carried out an assessment of Ms X. The outcome of the assessment was that the Council agreed to order some equipment for Ms X to use in the bath in the first instance.
17. In early June 2024, the Council decided that the equipment Ms X was using was not working and the officer handling her case requested Ms X was assessed for major adaptations. At this time the Council also put in place some reablement support for Ms X to help her with everyday tasks and washing herself.
18. In late July 2025, the Council told Ms X she was on the list for an OT to come out and assess her for major adaptations.
19. Ms X complained to the Council on early September 2024. Ms X complained the Council lost her 2023 referral and had not progressed her application for a wet room.
20. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint in mid-September 2024. The Council said:
• It received a referral from an OT in March 2023 for an assessment for a wet floor shower provision. The Council said the OT provided evidence of the referral to the Council, but unfortunately there was no record of the referral on the adult social care record.
• Since it assessed Ms X in March 2024 it initially trialled bathing equipment.
• It apologised for the inconvenience caused by the delay and upset caused because the initial referral was not processed in March 2023.
• It had carried out a review of its processes and as a result recruited a service improvements team manager to oversee and quality assure the referral process.
• Ms X was currently on the OT waiting list and her case would be allocated to an OT in early October 2024.
21. In October 2024, an OT assessed Ms X and sent proposals and specifications for a wet room to the Council in November 2024.
22. In December 2024, the Council sent Ms X’s landlord a copy of its proposals for a wet room in her property.

Analysis

23. Ms X said she was initially referred to the Council in March 2023, for an assessment for a wet room. The Council, in response to my enquiries, said it had no record of this and was first aware of Ms X’s situation in January 2024. However the Council in its stage two complaint response acknowledged an OT had referred Ms X to its service in March 2023 and that the OT provided evidence of this, but the referral was not actioned by the Council. This was fault by the Council.
24. Once Ms X was referred back to the Council by her GP in January 2024, the Council carried out an assessment and initially decided to see if Ms X could cope with bathroom equipment. The Council decided in June 2024, Ms X could not use equipment and needed adaptations. From Ms X’s first contact with the Council in January 2024, it took the Council 6 months to decide she needed adaptations. I am satisfied on balance if the Council had acted upon Ms X’s referral in March 2023, it could have come to the same decision by September 2023. Therefore I consider there has been a delay of 9 months in processing Ms X’s referral for adaptations. As a result Ms X has had to spend longer in a property where she is unable to wash properly.
25. Where someone has been deprived of adaptations which would have increased their independence and improved their daily life, we will usually recommend a remedy payment in the range of £150 to £350 a month. I considered this case is at the higher end of this payment range. In deciding a suitable figure I considered the extent of the adaptations Ms X needed, i.e. a wet room, the impact of not having this on Ms X’s daily life which meant she could not wash properly. I also considered Ms X did not have alternative support during this period of delay as this only was in place from June 2024.
26. Once the Council accepted a referral for Ms X and started to process her case from January 2024, it took a long time for it to decide whether she needed major adaptations to her property and draw up specifications for this. Government guidance says for urgent and complex works it should take around 65 days from first contact to identifying suitable works and starting a disabled facilities grant application. In this case it took nearly a year. This was fault.
27. Ms X has had to wait longer than she should have to have her case progressed to the stage where adaptations have been drawn up. I recognise that the Council decided to see if it could put in place alternatives to major works in the first instance such as bathroom equipment, however there were significant delays carrying out the first assessment of Ms X from January 2024 to March 2024. There were also further delays having Ms X assessed by an OT from the adaptation team from June 2024 until October 2024. This meant Ms X had the inconvenience and distress of having to wait much longer than she should to have her application for adaptations processed.

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Agreed Action

28. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
• Apologise to Ms X for the injustice caused to her by the above faults. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Ms X £3,150 to recognise the 9 month delay caused by not processing her March 2023 referral. I have calculated this at £350 per month as per our guidance on remedies.
• Pay Ms X £500 to recognise the distress and inconvenience she experienced for the time taken to process her referral from January 2024.
• Consider why there was such a long wait to process Ms X’s application and consider what actions it can take to reduce the wait for an OT assessment. The Council should report back to the Ombudsman with any changes to its procedures it intends to make.
29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman