Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision there had been a deprivation of assets when carrying out a financial assessment. There is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council came to its decision to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council wrongly decided her mother, Mrs Y had deliberately deprived herself of capital to avoid paying care fees.
2. She says this has resulted in Mrs Y paying for care for longer than she should have and leading to her having no capital remaining.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs Y moved into residential care and self-funded her placement. In 2025 Mrs X contacted the Council to request it begin funding Mrs Y’s care has her funds were close to reaching the upper financial limit for care home funding. The Council carried out a financial assessment and determined there had been a deprivation of Mrs Y’s assets. Mrs X complains the Council’s decision is wrong as it had not correctly considered Mrs Y’s motivation for gifting money.
8. Annex E of the Care and Support Statutory Guidance explains the three tests councils should consider. These are:
• whether the person knew they needed care and support;
• whether the person had a reasonable expectation they may need to pay towards that care and support; and
• whether the timing of the disposal suggests a motivation to avoid paying for care.
9. Where the Council has made its decision properly, taking the relevant factors into account, it is not for us to substitute our own decision for that of the Council. In this case, the Council has set out how it considered these tests when coming to a decision. As such, there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making to justify further investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s decision-making to justify further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman