Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council charging Mr B for his care. This is because we could not add to the Council’s response of make a different finding of the kind Mr B Wants.

The complaint

1. Mr B complained about the amount he is charged for his care. Mr B says he is now receiving his retirement pension which has led to an increase in care charges. Mr B says he cannot afford to pay the amount he is assessed as having to contribute towards his care costs and is suffering stress because of the amount the Council is charging him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council responded to Mr B’s complaint. It explained its records showed it overcharged Mr B for a period and credited him with £319.68. It says Mr B contributes £53.73 a week towards his care and has done since 2016. It says it has not completed a review of his finances since that time and invited him to send him the invoices he was querying so it could identify who had sent them. The Council says it currently excludes £23 a week from his income for his Disability Related Expenditure (DRE) and sent Mr B a form to complete to add any additional costs associated with his disability. The Council offered to visit Mr B if he needed help completing the form and asked a colleague in its Money Advice Centre to contact him to complete a review of his benefit entitlement. We could not add to this or make a different finding even if we investigated.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because we could not add to the Council’s response of make a different finding of the kind Mr B Wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman