Staffordshire County Council (22 006 530)
Category : Adult care services > Charging
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Sep 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays in the Council completing a financial assessment. This is because the accepted delays have not caused any significant injustice to Mr X to justify an investigation.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council delayed in completing a financial assessment. He says the Council has now issued a large care bill which has caused him distress. He also complains his assessed charges are unaffordable.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council has accepted there was a delay in completing the financial assessment and has apologised. We consider this to be appropriate in the circumstances.
- The Council told Mr X his care services were chargeable from October 2021. Therefore, Mr X is still in the same position he would have been even if the delay had not occurred. This is because Mr X was aware his care services were chargeable and that he would be liable to contribute towards the costs.
- Further, there is no evidence of any fault in how the Council completed its financial assessment. The Council has acted in line with the law and so is entitled to charge Mr X his assessed contribution towards the cost of his care.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the delay has not caused any significant injustice to justify an investigation. In addition, there is no evidence of fault in how the Council completed the financial assessment.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman