London Borough of Havering (25 002 213)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 03-Feb-2026

Summary: Miss Y complains about the Council’s communication regarding Direct Payments and client contributions. She says her allocated social worker did not provide clear advice, which led to a care provider seeking payment for unpaid invoices. In our view, the Council failed to act promptly once it became aware that Miss Y was not paying her client contributions. This delay allowed the debt on the account to increase. The Council has agreed to apologise and write to Miss Y to confirm the amount and status of any money owed.

Norfolk County Council (25 004 763)

Statement Not upheld Assessment and care plan 03-Feb-2026

Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s decision to stop her direct payments without prior notice. She also complained the Council left her without care for several months after agreeing to complete a reassessment. We have not investigated Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to stop her direct payments without prior notice as it is late, and there are no good reasons to investigate it. The Council was not at fault for how it handled the reassessment of Ms X’s care and support needs.

Durham County Council (25 012 799)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Assessment and care plan 03-Feb-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s views of the sufficiency of the care provision it assessed for Mr X and included in his care plan. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to warrant investigation.

London Borough of Barnet (25 002 306)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 02-Feb-2026

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to provide information about the amount payable for her father’s care fees and delayed completing a financial assessment and in requesting payments. We have found the Council at fault in the delay in providing the outcome of a financial assessment and failures in communication. This meant Miss X received a large, backdated bill for care fees which caused her distress. The Council agreed to apologise, agree an affordable repayment plan and make a symbolic payment to Miss X.

London Borough of Harrow (24 021 831)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 30-Jan-2026

Summary: Mrs Y complained the Council failed to account for relevant evidence in its decisions about Mr X’s care and support. Mrs Y also complained the Council moved Mr X to a new residential care setting without considering his best interests; incorrectly decided Mr X’s housing benefit (HB) entitlement; and failed to consider a complaint about Mr X’s care assessment. We found the Council at fault for avoidable delay in approaching its funding panel for additional resources. We cannot say this led to Mr X’s first placement breaking down, but believe Mrs Y experienced avoidable frustration and uncertainty. We have not found the Council at fault for how it accounted for Mr X's best interests when considering a move. We have found some fault with how the Council scheduled the best interests meeting and how it communicated with Mrs Y about Mr X’s transition. We found the Council at fault for being unable to confirm it had registered Mrs Y’s HB concerns as an appeal, and for failing to consider Mrs Y’s escalated complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise, review Mr X’s care and support plan, and pass Mrs Y’s HB appeal to the Tribunal.

Nottinghamshire County Council (24 022 851)

Statement Not upheld Assessment and care plan 30-Jan-2026

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council refused to fully fund her father to remain at home receiving his current 24-hour care provision. We found no fault by the Council.

Devon County Council (24 016 793)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 29-Jan-2026

Summary: We upheld a complaint from Miss B about the Council’s management of her son’s social care needs during a disruptive period in his life in 2024. We considered fault by the Council contributed to his distress, and that of Miss B. A delay in resolving the question of whether he could consent to Miss B’s complaint also added unnecessarily to her time and trouble. The Council accepted these findings. At the end of this statement, we set out action it agreed to take to remedy this injustice.

Birmingham City Council (25 002 191)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 28-Jan-2026

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s decision-making regarding Mr Y’s care plan. He complained the Council should increase the provision for Mr Y. He says this increased Mr Y’s isolation. He complained the Council did not provide transport for Mr Y to attend a day centre. He says this caused him unnecessary stress. We find no fault with the Council’s decision-making regarding the amount of provision in Mr Y’s care plan. We do find fault with the Council’s decision-making regarding transport for Mr Y. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, make a fresh decision and take service improvement action.

Norfolk County Council (25 002 756)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 28-Jan-2026

Summary: Miss X complained the Council has discriminated against her due to her disability and has failed to meet her request for reasonable adjustments. Miss X also complained about errors in her financial assessment in relation to her benefit details and her Disability Related Expenditure. And that the Council stopped her direct payments for four weeks without any notice or explanation. We found the Council’s failings in communication and the delay in responding to Miss X’s correspondence are fault. As was the failure to correctly update Miss X’s address on all of its systems. These faults have caused Miss X a significant injustice and impacted her health and wellbeing. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Miss X.

London Borough of Hackney (24 022 448)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 27-Jan-2026

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her care and support assessment. We found avoidable delay by the Council in completing the assessment. The Council agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to Mrs X in recognition of the avoidable distress the delay caused.