Summary: Miss P and Mrs Q complain the Council has not completed a financial assessment properly. The Council is not at fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss P, complains on behalf of Mrs Q, that the Council have not completed a financial assessment for Mrs Q properly, because it did not allow for any contribution towards Mrs Q’s housing costs after she and Miss P moved in together.
2. As a result, Miss P says she faces financial difficulty and inconvenience and Mrs Q is paying too much for care and faces the risk of having to go into residential care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. Miss P has spoken to the Ombudsman about her complaint. I have considered the Council’s response to their complaint and its response to my enquiries.
7. Miss P and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

8. Councils can make charges for care and support services they provide or arrange. Charges may only cover the cost the council incurs. (Care Act 2014, section 14)
9. The charging rules for care are set out in the “Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014”, and the “Care and Support Statutory Guidance 2014”.
10. Where the person has capital above the upper capital limit (£23,250) they must pay their care costs in full. Where they have capital under this limit, they will pay an assessed contribution towards their care costs. The council will carry out a financial assessment to calculate the assessed contribution.
11. Because a person who receives care and support outside a care home will need to pay their daily living costs such as rent, food and utilities, the charging rules must ensure they have enough money to meet these costs. After charging, a person must be left with the minimum income guarantee (MIG), as set out in the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014.
12. The MIG must be after any housing costs such as rent and council tax net of any benefits provided to support these costs – and after any disability related expenditure. (Care and Support Statutory Guidance, Annexe C para 49)

What happened

13. Mrs Q receives social care from the Council. She previously lived alone in a home she rented. The Council’s financial assessment took account of Mrs Q’s income and expenditure, including her weekly rent obligation as set out on her tenancy agreement. The Council concluded Mrs Q’s income and outgoings were such that she need not contribute towards the cost of her social care.
14. Mrs Q developed dementia. She and Miss P decided that, to avoid Mrs Q having to go into residential care in the future, Mrs Q would live with Miss P and her children. To enable this, Miss P bought a house in Mrs Q’s area and Mrs Q moved in with the family.
15. Mrs Q’s name is not on the mortgage, nor was there a written tenancy or occupancy agreement for Mrs Q to live in the house. Miss P says she and her mother had agreed orally before the move that Mrs Q would pay £400 a month towards the mortgage plus a share of household costs. Miss P states she only proceeded on that basis because she would not have been able to afford the house without her mother’s contribution.
16. Mrs Q’s house move led to a new financial assessment. The Council noted Mrs Q’s pension and benefits had increased. It also judged she had no obligation to pay housing costs (as Mrs Q did not have a mortgage or a written obligation to pay rent) so her outgoings had decreased. The Council therefore concluded Mrs Q had more money available to pay for social care. It said she should pay £67.23 per week towards the cost of her social care, later increased to £80.63 per week after further pension and benefits increases. Miss P says if her mother were to pay this, she would not be able to contribute towards the mortgage as mother and daughter had intended.

Analysis

17. Miss P says there is an oral tenancy agreement in place. It is clear the Council has considered this in its stage two response to Miss P’s complaint.
18. It is clear that the living arrangements were not originally intended to include any type of tenancy agreement. Emails between Miss P and the Council show that Miss P stated in November 2018 that, “there is no tenancy agreement in place at present.” Following her meeting with the Council in February 2019, Miss P sent an email to the Council saying, “you have forced me to describe her as a tenant so therefore she is – by oral arrangement”.
19. There is no evidence that Mrs Q’s contributions were taken into account when Miss P obtained her mortgage.
20. There is no evidence that Mrs Q has any formal obligations to pay rent or mortgage payments.
21. Miss P says she has power of attorney over her mother’s finances and accounts, therefore there will be no specific entries on any bank statements for rent. I have reviewed the bank statements. There is no evidence that there is a tenant/landlord relationship between Miss P and Mrs Q.
22. The Council has decided to allow a disregard for parts of household bills and exercised discretion to also allow 25% of Miss P’s Council Tax bill.
23. There are no identifiable housing costs that Mrs Q has to pay. The Council’s assessment is in accordance with the statutory guidance. This is not fault by the Council.

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Final decision

24. I have not found fault by the Council. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman