Summary: The Council acknowledges a delay in completing Mrs X’s needs assessment and accepts that it could have explored alternative methods of contact to carry out the assessment.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council delayed in completing her Care Act assessment. She says the Council also placed undue pressure on her to agree to a home visit, despite her request for a remote assessment, and that the home visit caused her distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), 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 have:

• considered the complaint and information provided by Mrs X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the responses;
• taken account of relevant legislation;
• offered Mrs X and the Council an opportunity to comment on a draft of this document.

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What I found

Relevant legislation

5. A council must carry out an assessment of any adult who seems to need care and support. 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 appropriate their carer or any other person they might want involved. (Care Act 2014, section 9). Having identified eligible needs through a needs assessment, the council has a duty to meet those needs. (Care Act 2014, section 18)
6. If a council decides a person is eligible for care, it must prepare a care and support plan. This must set out the needs identified in the assessment. The care and support plan should consider what the person has, what they want to achieve, what they can do by themselves or with existing support and what care and support may be available in the local area. The support plan must include a personal budget, which is the money the council has worked out it will cost to arrange the necessary care and support for that person.
7. The Care and Support Statutory Guidance sets out that authorities should conduct a periodic review of the care and support plan. It says ‘The periodic review should be proportionate to the needs to be met, and the process should not contain any surprises for the person concerned.

Background

8. Mrs X is in her forties and has autism, ADHD and mental health conditions. She lives with her partner and two children: one is a minor with autism and health needs, and the other is a young adult with significant learning disabilities and challenging behaviour requiring full‑time supervision. Mrs X also provides care for her partner, who has long‑term health issues.
9. Mrs X requested a Care Act assessment in May 2024. After receiving no update, she contacted the Council again in July 2024 and was told there were substantial waiting times. The Council says its practice guidance aims to complete assessments within 28 days of allocation, but this is indicative only. It operates a risk‑based triage system under its Waiting Safely framework.
10. In October 2024, a social worker supporting Mrs X’s son contacted the Council to highlight that Mrs X required her own assessment. The Council completed an initial telephone assessment that month. Mrs X declined a carer’s assessment and asked for a full Care Act assessment to access direct payments.
11. The Council allocated a social worker to Mrs X in April 2025 to complete the Care Act assessment. The assessment was finalised in June 2025 and identified that Mrs X had eligible needs relating to accessing the community, attending appointments, personal care, reducing isolation and support with domestic tasks. The Council agreed a direct payment to fund six hours of support per week.
12. Mrs X subsequently made several complaints to the Council about the length of time she had waited for an assessment and about inaccuracies she believed were present in the completed document. She also said she felt pressured into agreeing to a home visit and that her preferred communication methods had not been respected. She said the Council had not apologised for the delay or acknowledged the impact this had on her.
13. In its stage one complaint response, the Council accepted there had been significant delays in completing Mrs X’s assessment. It acknowledged that insisting on a home visit had caused her distress and accepted that a remote meeting could have been offered initially as a reasonable adjustment. The Council also noted that Mrs X had declined a carer’s assessment, expressing a preference for an assessment in her own right.
14. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s response and continued to correspond with it about her concerns.
15. In response to enquiries from this office, the Council said that at the time of its complaint response it focused on completing Mrs X’s assessment and support plan, as this was the outcome she had requested. It said Mrs X was asked whether she sought any further remedy, but she did not identify any additional action she wished the Council to take.
16. The Council also acknowledged, in response to enquiries, that it had not offered Mrs X a formal apology for the delay in completing her assessment and accepted this should have been made clearer in its stage one complaint response.
17. The Council said the allocated social worker initially gathered information from Mrs X by email, which was her preferred method of communication. It said the social worker advised that a home visit would be beneficial to explore her needs in more detail. The Council said Mrs X had reported difficulties maintaining a habitable home environment and that her home could quickly become chaotic, unsafe and unhygienic without support. The Council therefore considered a home visit necessary to ensure a thorough understanding of her needs. It now accepts it could have considered an initial virtual meeting. The Council said it did not consider any further remedy because there was no indication Mrs X’s situation had deteriorated during the waiting period, nor evidence she had paid privately for care, which it would have considered reimbursing.
18. The Council says it has taken steps to prevent a recurrence of this type of complaint. It has implemented its Waiting Safely framework and has recirculated practice guidance on different approaches to assessment. The Ombudsman welcomes these service improvements and does not consider further recommendations necessary in this area.

Analysis

19. The Council did not meet reasonable expectations for providing a timely and effective service. Mrs X experienced a delay in the completion of her needs assessment, and the Council has acknowledged this. As a result of the delay, Mrs X did not receive the support she needed at the time she needed it, which caused her avoidable stress and practical difficulties. Although the Council said it did not identify any additional remedy because Mrs X had not paid privately for support while waiting, this is not the only relevant consideration. Regardless of whether she incurred financial costs, the delay meant she missed out on support she was entitled to receive. This represents a clear injustice. A remedy beyond that already offered by the Council is therefore required to recognise the impact of the delay and the avoidable distress it caused.

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Agreed Action

20. The Council has agreed to:

• write to Mrs X to provide a clear apology for the delay in completing a Care Act assessment;
• make a payment of £150 in recognition of the delay in assessment and for the distress caused by the way Mrs X’s preferred method of engagement in the assessment was managed.

21. Additionally, it should:

• make a payment of £500 to acknowledge the missed support.

22. The actions should be completed within four weeks of the date of the final decision, with evidence of completion submitted to this office.

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Final Decision

23. The Council acknowledges there was a delay in completing Mrs X’s needs assessment and accepts that it could have explored alternative methods of contact to carry out the assessment.
24. The recommendations above are a fair and proportionate way to remedy the injustice suffered by Mrs X.
25. It is on this basis; the complaint will be closed.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman