Summary: We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint about the Council charging him a contribution towards his care costs. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs D says her son cannot afford to pay the amount towards his care charges the Council has assessed him as having to contribute. Mrs D says the Council increased Mr C’s care charges from £40 to £286.76 a month and backdated payment to January 2021 requiring him to pay an initial cost of £781.96.

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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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. The complainant had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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My assessment

6. The Council says it reassessed Mr C’s finances in March and backdated the charges to January when it was advised of the increase in Mr C’s finances. It said Mr C’s available income is £597.97 a month and assessed him as having enough income to contribute £71.69 a week towards the cost of his care package.
7. The Care Act 2014 says the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) should be disregarded from a financial assessment, but the care component and Universal Credit can be included. If the Council decides to charge a person for the care it provides it must ensure it leaves a minimum amount, this is called the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). The Government sets the rate for the MIG.

Social care charging for local authorities: 2020 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

2.10 of the guidance states: ‘for the next financial year (2020/21) the rates of MIG will remain the same’. For a person who is single and is aged 18 or older but less than 25, the amount is £72.40.

8. The Council says Mr C’s available income is £597.97 per month. His contribution towards his care costs is £71.69pw, so he is left with £77.80 a week. This is in line with the MIG.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman