Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council charging a top-up fee. This is because it is unlikely we will find evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council. Mrs B could have complained in 2016 if she did not agree to paying a top up. There is no good reason to exercise discretion and investigate this late complaint now.

The complaint

1. Mrs C says the Council should not have charged a top up fee for her late father’s, Mr B’s, residential care in 2016 as no one was willing or able or agreed to pay it. Mrs C says the Council should have found Mr B a placement in the area which met his needs which did not require a top up. Mrs C says the Council should reimburse her mother, Mrs B, £27,335.89 plus interest which is the amount of money she paid to the care provider for the top up between 2016 and 2020. Mrs C says the Council should not have allowed Mrs B to pay the top up directly to the care provider and says it implemented an illegal top up.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council says Mrs C and her sister, who was Mr B’s power of Attorney, wanted him placed in a home, out of county, near to where they lived in 2016 when he was discharged from hospital.
7. The Council says Mr B’s wife and daughter, Mrs C’s sister, knew placing Mr B in the home would incur a top up of £143.92 a week. The Council says Mrs B was advised of this on 11 October 2016.
8. We will not investigate this complaint. It is unlikely there is any fault with the Council for charging a top up in 2016 which Mrs B paid between 2016 and 2020. If agreed a top up can be paid directly to a care provider, which in this case it was. Mrs B could have complained to the Ombudsman in 2016 if she did not agree to paying the top up.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs C’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate this late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman