Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to reduce her relative’s, Mrs Y’s, direct care payments. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s assessment of Mrs Y’s care and support needs.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains on behalf of Mrs Y. She says the Council failed to properly assess Mrs Y’s care and support needs and wrongly reduced her direct care payments.
2. Mrs X says that Mrs Y is now personally funding additional care that she needs. Mrs X wants the Council to reassess Mrs Y and increase her direct care payments.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
5. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and the Care and Support Statutory Guidance.

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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. The assessment must be person-centred and must try to find out the total extent of needs before considering eligibility for care and support.
7. Councils are not required to meet eligible needs that are being met by a willing and able informal carer. During an assessment, councils should identify which needs are being met by carers and consider whether those needs would otherwise be eligible. But any eligible needs met by a carer are not required to be met by the council, for so long as the carer continues to do so.
8. The evidence I have seen shows:
• In 2019, the Council assessed Mrs Y as needing 25 hours of care and support per week. At the time of this assessment, Mrs Y needed greater assistance and supervision with activities such as personal care and meal preparation.
• In 2025, the Council completed a reassessment. It recorded that Mrs Y had become more independent with personal care and meal preparation, although she still needed some supervision as well as help with accessing the community. It also recorded her wish to maintain and develop her independence.
• The reassessment recorded that Mrs Y's partner and other family members were meeting many of her daily care needs, and that her partner was willing to continue providing that support. The assessment also identified risks of falls and included contingency planning to manage those risks.
• Having considered Mrs Y's current needs, increased independence and the support available from her informal carers, the Council decided to reduce her eligible care to eight hours a week.
9. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council carried out the 2025 assessment. The assessment considered Mrs Y's views, her current level of independence and the ongoing informal support from her partner and other family members. It also recorded contingency arrangements for any risks identified. The Council was entitled to decide, based on that assessment, that Mrs Y's eligible care needs had changed and that fewer funded care hours were required. Where there is not enough evidence of fault we cannot question the outcome.
10. I acknowledge the Council accepted that part of the 2025 assessment did not include some statements and has since amended it. The Council explained this does not affect its assessment of Mrs Y's eligible care and support needs or its decision to reduce her care hours. Based on the evidence I have seen, there is not enough evidence this initial omission affected the outcome of the assessment. On its own, it does not justify us investigating the complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X's complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council's assessment of Mrs Y's care and support needs.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman