Summary: Ms C complained about the way the Council caried out its financial assessment, to determine how much her son would have to contribute towards his support package. We did not find fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms C, complained to us on behalf of her son, whom I shall call Mr X. Ms C complained about the way the Council caried out its financial assessment, to determine how much her son would have to contribute towards his support package. She complained the Council was wrong to treat her son’s Personal Independence Payment (Daily Living component) as income.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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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What I found

Relevant legislation and guidance

4. The Care Act Guidance says that:
• Councils have a duty to arrange care and support for those with eligible needs. In all cases, a council has the discretion to choose whether to charge for this. Where it decides to charge, it must follow the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) regulations and have regard to the guidance.
• Income will always be taken into account unless it is disregarded under the regulations. Councils may take most of the benefits people receive into account. Those they must disregard includes the “mobility component” of Personal Independence Payments. However, this list does not include the PIP “Daily Living component”.
• Any income from the following benefits must be taken into account when considering what a person can afford to pay from their income towards the cost of their care and support. The list includes the Personal Independence Payment (Daily Living component).

What happened

5. The Council carried out an assessment of Mr X’s needs, which identified that he had eligible needs. It concluded that he needs support in his daily life to achieve outcomes in the areas of education, social activities and being part of his community. To meet his eligible needs for access to education/training and his social wellbeing, the Council has commissioned a placement for him of three days a week at an activity centre. The Council subsequently carried out a financial assessment to calculate how much Mr X would have to contribute towards the weekly cost for this.
6. As part of its calculations, the Council included Mr X’s Personal Independence Payment (Daily Living component) of £37.65 a week as income. It subsequently concluded that Mr C could contribute £34.04 a week.
7. Ms C says the Council should not take the £37.65 into account as this money is meant to pay for his care support. She says that his visits to the day centre do not amount to care support.

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Final decision

8. The Council has commissioned a placement at a Centre to meet Mr X’s eligible needs for access to education/training and for his social wellbeing. The Care Act and its Guidance say the Council should include a person’s Personal Independence Payment (Daily Living component) when calculating how much they can contribute towards the cost of their care. As such, I found there was no fault and did not uphold Ms C’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman