Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fees the Council charged the complainant for care. This is because the Council has agreed to cancel the fees.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about fees that the Council have charged him for care he received. He says he was told that his free period of enablement care would be extended for a further six weeks, but that the Council have now charged him for this.

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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 an investigation if the Council offers a fair remedy. (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.

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My assessment

5. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because in early-April, the Council agreed to cancel the care fees Mr X complains about. The Council say that due to an admin error it did not inform him of this but will do so now and apologise for not doing so sooner.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has agreed to cancel the fees.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman