Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to properly assess his needs because Mr X took court action. Mr X would need to raise any complaint about the latest assessment from late 2025, that was not part of his court action, with the Council and give it the opportunity to investigate before we could consider it.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council has not properly assessed his needs. He says it terminated his care when he went abroad for treatment and refused to provide interim care on his return in 2025 despite his physical needs. It carried out inadequate assessments. Mr X said this has led to a medical crisis and significant distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended) This is the case even if the court action did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
3. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. I gave Mr X and the Council an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

What happened

7. Mr X received a care package. In November 2024 he went abroad for treatment and the Council stopped the care package. In February 2025 Mr X returned to the UK and asked the Council to reinstate his care package.
8. The Council assessed Mr X in late February and arranged an interim care package in March 2025. It completed the assessment that month and decided Mr X did not have eligible care needs. It ended the care package.
9. Mr X complained to the Council in March 2025.
10. The Council responded at stage one of its complaints’ procedure in May 2025. It did not uphold Mr X’s concerns about the assessment.
11. Mr X remained unhappy and the Council responded at stage two of its complaints’ procedure in August 2025. It said an Occupational therapist (OT) had visited Mr X and identified no OT needs. It said Mr X had sent in additional information about his medical conditions so it would offer a further assessment.
12. The Council reassessed Mr X’s care needs in late October 2025. It did not identify any care needs.
13. In November 2025 Mr X applied for permission to judicially review the Council’s decision to withdraw and refusal to reinstate his care. He said it relied on inaccurate and incomplete assessments, failed to involve him and failed to provide interim care.
14. The court refused Mr X permission to apply for judicial review. It noted the Council had reassessed Mr X in November 2025 and Mr X was again found not eligible. It said he could challenge the newer decision with the Council if he wished.

Analysis

15. We cannot investigate any complaint where a complainant has started court proceedings. Mr X’s complaint to us is very similar to his application for judicial review against the Council and raises the same or closely related issues. Although Mr X’s application for judicial review was dismissed, we cannot investigate as Mr X has used this alternative remedy.
16. A council must be given the opportunity to investigate before we can consider a complaint. If Mr X has concerns about the later assessment the Council completed after he started legal proceedings, he can complain to the Council first. Once it has given his final response, if he remains unhappy and believes there was a flaw in the assessment process, he can then complain again to us.

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Decision

17. I have ended my investigation as I have no power to investigate this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman