Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an Adult Social Care financial assessment. That is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to charge him for Adult Social Care. He said in its financial assessment, the Council had considered capital that he could not access. He said he was having to pay for care out of his Universal Credit which caused him financial hardship.

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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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for an organisation review or appeal.

(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. Mr X contacted the Council in March about his financial assessment. In that conversation he said he had capital tied up in a property that he could not access.
6. The Council wrote to Mr X in July 2022 after it had completed a light touch financial assessment. It said the completed financial assessment form indicated he had agreed to pay the maximum charge. Therefore, it had assessed him to pay the full cost of his weekly care. That letter stated Mr X could ask for a full financial assessment if he was unhappy with the light touch assessment.
7. Mr X subsequently complained about the charges the Council had applied to arrange his care. He also said he could not afford the care charges and the Council knew he was struggling to access capital that was tied up in a shared property. He said because of this, he intended to arrange his care privately with the Care Provider.
8. In its complaint response, the Council said it would reimburse the care arrangement fees. It said that as Mr X had now entered private arrangements with the Care Provider his complaint fell outside the remit of Adult Social Care.
9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint further. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to take Mr X’s capital into consideration when it did the financial assessment. In addition, if Mr X is unhappy with the outcome of the light-touch financial assessment, it would be reasonable for him to ask the Council to complete a full financial assessment.
10. We could investigate how the Council has considered to charge Mr X, given he is not able to realise his capital. However, Mr X has arranged support privately with the Care Provider, therefore the Council is not responsible for any charging decisions. The Council has reimbursed Mr X the arrangement fees, therefore there is no outstanding injustice.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman