Brighton & Hove City Council (19 009 112)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s delay in sending invoices for her mother’s care. She says this caused her stress and inconvenience. We should not investigate this complaint because the Council has already provided an appropriate remedy. An investigation is unlikely to achieve more for Ms X.
The complaint
- Ms X complains that the Council delayed in sending invoices for her mother’s temporary residential care. She also complains about poor communication from the Council.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:
- it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
- it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered comments and information from Ms X and the Council. I have written to Ms X with a draft decision and given her an opportunity to comment.
What I found
- Ms X says the Council took more than a year to send her an invoice for her mother’s temporary residential care which resulted in a large back-dated invoice. She also says the communication from the Council was poor.
- Ms X would like an apology from a named officer in the Council’s Financial Assessment Team and an affordable repayment scheme.
- In its response to the complaint the Council:
- explained the reason for the delay in sending the invoice and apologised,
- apologised for its failure to respond to Ms X’s contacts, and
- offered a repayment plan.
- The Council’s actions represent an appropriate and proportionate remedy for the stress and inconvenience caused to Ms X. An investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve more for Ms X.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely we could add to the Council’s investigation or achieve a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman