Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (21 008 730)
Category : Adult care services > Charging
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Oct 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council charge for its emergency on call service. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Ms X to warrant it.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, complains that she is paying the Council for an emergency on call service which is not being provided and so she should not have to pay the invoices sent to her for it.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Ms X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X is charged a monthly fee for an emergency on call service which she activates by pulling the cord in her home. One night she pulled the emergency cord between 4 to 6 times because she could hear a noise, later found to be caused by an extractor fan in the refuse room, which was keeping her awake.
- Ms X says despite being told by her housing manager to pull the cord, when she did so she was told by the service answering her calls that it had no-one on site to attend. As Ms X believes she is paying for a service which is not being provided, she withheld payment for it but has been told by the Council she is liable.
- While the service did not attend on the night in question when she could not sleep, this does not mean she is not being provided with an emergency service and there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Ms X to warrant it.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman