Kent County Council (19 010 502)
Category : Adult care services > Charging
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Dec 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about residential care charges from 2014 - 2015. The complaint is late, and I do not see good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate now.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about residential care charges for his late mother’s care going back to 2014 – 2015. He says his mother should not have been charged.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the information provided by Mr X. I sent him my draft decision and read the information he supplied.
What I found
- Some people who have been in hospital under s117 of the Mental Health Act (MHA) can get free after care. This can include accommodation costs where the need for accommodation is identified as a need arising from the mental condition causing the detention.
- Mr X informed the Council in 2015 that his mother was entitled to free after care to cover care charges from 2014 - 2015 as she was sectioned in 1998. The Council refused his request (stating the need for residential care could not be directly linked to the mental condition arising in the 1998 detention).
- In September 2019 Mr X complained to us.
- We will not investigate. Mr X has complained to us 4 years after he knew about the matters he is now raising.
- Furthermore, I can see from the information Mr X provided that the Council signposted him to the Ombudsman in September 2013 (regarding a different complaint matter). So, it was reasonable to expect him to complain to us in 2015 rather than over 4 years later. I see no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to investigate now.
Final decision
- We will not investigate as the complaint has been made late and there are no good reasons to exercise our discretion.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman