Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the outcome of the Council’s care and support assessment for Mr X. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains on behalf of Mr X, that the Council has wrongly removed some support it was providing to him following an assessment of his needs.
2. She says the Council has caused financial hardship and significant distress. She would like the Council to reassess Mr X’s needs and her needs as his carer.

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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 the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council carried out an assessment of Mr X’s needs in October 2025 and decided it would no longer provide 15 hours of Personal Assistant support to help Mr X with social inclusion.
7. It said Mr X told the Council he did not leave the house regularly and could manage his daily life without support, so the 15 hours of direct payments were not needed for the intended purpose.
8. Ms X complained as she said this will put more pressure on her and make it difficult for her to go to work as she cannot leave Mr X alone.
9. The Council explained the reasoning for its decision about Mr X’s needs, and advised about medical support he may want to seek.
10. It also confirmed it would carry out a new assessment of Ms X’s needs as a carer.
11. The Council has made a decision it is entitled to make about Mr X’s support, and has already offered to assess Ms X’s needs to consider the support she may need.
12. Further investigation by this office is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence the Council is at fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman