Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to compensate him for paying his mother’s care costs when he had difficulty accessing her savings. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council and an investigation by this office could not add to the response already provided via the Council’s previous investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision not to compensate him for paying his mother’s (Mrs Y’s) care costs, when he had difficulty accessing her savings, prior to the Council completing a financial assessment for funding.
2. Mr X would like the Council to take account of the fact Mrs Y has already funded her own care costs in excess of £140,000 and her husband’s care costs of over £80,000. I have not considered this part of Mr X’s complaint. This is because it did not form part of his complaint to the Council. As such, the Council has not yet had the opportunity to consider and respond to it via its complaints procedure. Where this is the case we will not investigate.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about it and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X complains on behalf of his mother Mrs Y, for whom he has a general power of attorney.
9. Mrs Y has self-funded her home care package with a live-in carer since 2019.
10. In mid-August 2021, Mr X asked the Council to carry out a financial assessment for funding towards the cost of Mrs Y’s home care as her funds had depleted. The Council completed Mrs Y’s financial assessment in early September and funding was agreed with Mrs Y paying her assessed contribution.
11. Prior to this, Mr X says he had difficulty in accessing Mrs Y’s remaining savings, of just under £30,000. As a result, he funded the care himself, paying over £23,000 until the Council completed the financial assessment. This caused Mr X financial difficulty as he built up a credit card debt. He asked the Council to compensate him for this. The Council declined his request and Mr X submitted a complaint.
12. In response to Mr X’s complaint, the Council explained it committed to take over the funding of Mrs Y’s care in early September once the financial assessment was completed. It was not obliged to fund Mrs Y’s care before this, nor to provide compensation to Mr X for funding the care himself before the financial assessment. It did not know why Mr X decided to take this action and was unable to comment as it did not know what financial arrangements Mr X and Mrs Y have in place. However, it said it was a matter Mr X would need to resolve with Mrs Y.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council and an investigation by this office would be unable to add to the response and explanation already provided via the Council’s investigation of the matter.
14. We will not consider part of Mr X’s complaint referred to in paragraph 2 of this statement. This is because the Council has not yet had the opportunity to consider and respond to it via its complaints procedure.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman