Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to charge the complainant for the cost of her care. This is because we are unlikely to find fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X has complained on behalf of his late mother, Mrs Y, about the Council’s decision to charge for the cost of Mrs Y’s care. Mr X says they were not told they would need to pay for the care and the fees should be waived.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. Mr X had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision and I have considered his comments in response.

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My assessment

7. The charging rules for residential care are set out in the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of resources) Regulations 2014 and the Care and Support Statutory Guidance 2014. When the Council arranges a care home placement, it must follow these rules when deciding how much a person has to pay towards the cost of their residential care. The rules say that people with over the upper capital limit (£23,250) are expected to pay for the full cost of their residential care home fees.
8. Mrs Y moved into a residential care home on 12 April 2021 for a temporary placement as there were concerns her medication may increase the risk of falls. On 30 April, the Council wrote to Mrs Y and said she would need to pay for the full cost of her care as she had over £23,250 in capital.
9. Mr X says the Council did not tell him or Mrs Y that they would need to pay for the placement before Mrs Y moved into the home and they would not have agreed to the placement had they known about the charges. Mr X says no fees were agreed and they had assumed charges would not apply as the placement was linked to Mrs Y’s health needs.
10. The Council has provided a copy of the care assessment completed before Mrs Y moved into the care home. The assessment says the charging implications for the placement were explained to Mr X and Mrs Y. I understand Mr X disputes this and I cannot know for certain what was discussed. However, based on the information available, I consider it more likely than not the Council made Mr X and Mrs Y aware the placement would be chargeable. Therefore, it is unlikely I could find fault by the Council.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman