Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council failed to provide care and support services to her and her mother. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and because part of her complaint is made late.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council failed to provide adequate care and support services and funding for her and her mother (Miss Z) in accordance with their requests.

Back to top

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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

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

3. 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

6. Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 require councils to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. They must provide an assessment to everyone regardless of their finances or whether the council thinks the person has eligible needs. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved.
7. Where somebody provides or intends to provide care for another adult and it appears the carer may have any needs for support, the council must carry out a carer’s assessment. A carer’s assessment must seek to find out not only the carer’s needs for support, but also the sustainability of the caring role itself. This includes the practical and emotional support the carer provides to the adult.
8. Several years ago, the Council agreed a personal budget to meet Miss Y’s needs. The Council has recently carried out a reassessment of Miss Y’s needs and a carers assessment for Miss X.
9. I will not investigate how the Council carried out its original assessment of Miss Y’s needs or Miss X’s complaints about matters going back several years. This is because these matters are late, and I see no good reason why they could not have been raised with the Ombudsman sooner.
10. I have considered how the Council carried out its recent care and carers assessments. The carer’s assessment for Miss X and the care assessment for Miss Y show that the Council considered relevant information, carried out home visits and fully understood the needs of Miss Y and how Miss X supports her. There is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council carried out its assessment. Whilst there was a delay in completing Miss Y’s assessment this did not cause Miss Y an injustice because the Council’s assessment concluded that her care needs had not changed.
11. Miss X complains that the Council have not resolved outstanding care invoices. The Council considered this point and concluded that the outstanding balance was to pay for care over and above that agreed in Miss Y’s personal budget and this was therefore a private matter between Miss Y and her care provider. I see no evidence of fault in how it reached this conclusion.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation and part of her complaint is made late.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman