Summary: Mrs X complained the Council charged for days when her husband, Mr X, could not attend his usual day care centre for support. The Council was at fault for giving Mrs X incorrect information about the need to give 24 hours’ notice for non-attendance at the day care centre. It agreed to apologise and has waived the charges for days Mr X could not attend.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council charged for days when her husband, Mr X, could not attend his usual day care centre for support.
2. Mrs X said the requirement to give 24 hours’ notice for non-attendance was unfair and was not communicated to her.
3. Mrs X also complained about delays and poor practice in the Council’s complaint handling, which caused frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. As part of the investigation, I considered the complaint and the information Mrs X provided.
7. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered its response along with relevant law and guidance.
8. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

The Council’s complaint policy

9. The Council tries to resolve enquiries, concerns, or service requests by talking through problems without the need to go through its formal complaint procedure.
10. If the Council cannot resolve the problem informally, then it will let people know how to proceed within the formal complaint procedure.
11. Under its formal complaint procedure, the Council aims to provide a response within 20 working days.

What happened

12. I have summarised below some key events leading to Mrs X complaint. This is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
13. Mr X has Alzheimer’s and suffers cognitive impairment. Mrs X is his carer.
14. Mr X attended a day care centre once a week so he could interact with others. He had to pay the Council for this service.
15. On some occasions, Mr X could not attend the day care centre. This was due to ill health or to attend hospital appointments.
16. Mrs X emailed the Council on 10 January 2023, challenging an invoice she received for day care centre charges.
17. The Council acknowledged receipt of the email and said it passed it to a manager to respond.
18. Mrs X emailed the Council on 28 April 2023, stating she received a further invoice, and chasing a response to her complaint.
19. The Council responded on 2 May 2023. It apologised it did not send a response. It asked Mrs X which dates she was challenging so that it could generate a new invoice.
20. Mrs X replied on 9 May 2023. She asked the Council what its target is for replying to correspondence. She said she pre-notified the day centre when Mr X could not attend, usually by leaving a message with the office.
21. Mrs X gave a list of the disputed dates. She said eight dates were hospital admissions, four were bank holidays, and on two days Mr X was too ill to attend.
22. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint on 26 May 2023. It said a manager contacted her on 7 February 2023 confirming the dates she had cancelled the day centre in advance. They said a new invoice would be generated and this would include removal of bank holidays, which should not have been charged.
23. The Council asked Mrs X to provide evidence she contacted the day centre at least 24 hours before hand for the non-attendance days she was challenging. It said it would then review and amend the invoices.

My investigation

24. Mrs X told me she would telephone the day centre’s office at the start of business to tell them if Mr X was ill or could not attend. She said it is not reasonable for the Council to expect advanced notice for illness. Mr X attended on Mondays so even if she left a message on Sunday, it would not get picked up until Monday morning.
25. Mrs X told me she received a phone call from a manager at the Council on 4 June 2023. They told her the new service provider running the day centre introduced a requirement to give 24 hours’ notice for non-attendance. She said if the Council told her this earlier, she could have checked with staff to see if they remembered, but she lost the chance to do so.
26. In response to my enquiries, the Council told me there is no expectation service users will give 24 hours’ notice for non-attendance, due to the nature of the issues they face.
27. The Council said there is no contract between service users and the day centre, only a discussion about costs and attendance days. However, in light of the issues raised by this complaint, the Council intends to work up a formal process around charging, cancellation, and other aspects of attendance which is communicated to service users and their representatives.
28. The Council offered to waive the charges for days Mr X could not attend the day centre.
29. The Council told me it treated Mrs X’s original complaint from January 2023 as an informal complaint. However, it recognised it did not send her a written response at that time, and it apologised for this when responding to her complaint in May 2023.

Analysis

30. The Council treated Mrs X’s original complaint from January 2023 as an informal one, which it is entitled to do under its complaint policy. In its response, the Council told Mrs X a service manager telephoned her in February 2023 to discuss the disputed invoice. Unfortunately, I do not have evidence of how this call concluded, and the Council did not follow it up with a written response.
31. Mrs X was evidently not satisfied, as she returned to the Council asking it to address her complaint in April 2023. Under the Council’s policy, it should have told Mrs X about the formal complaint procedure back in February if it could not resolve matters.
32. The Council acknowledged it did not send Mrs X a written response initially, and apologised to her for this. I appreciate the lack of written response caused Mrs X frustration, but I consider the Council’s apology is sufficient remedy for the injustice. And it did send a formal complaint response in May 2023.
33. When the Council sent a formal response to Mrs X’s complaint, it asked her for evidence she gave the day centre 24 hours’ notice on the days Mr X could not attend. Its response suggests the Council would not amend the invoices without this evidence.
34. However, in response to my enquiries, the Council told me there is no requirement to give 24 hours’ notice. The information it gave Mrs X in its complaint response was therefore wrong. That was fault. It caused Mrs X avoidable frustration and distress, as she could not prove she gave 24 hours’ notice, especially so many months later.
35. The Council offered to waive the outstanding charges for days Mr X could not attend. Mrs X has confirmed the Council has now done this. The Council should also acknowledge its mistake and apologise to Mrs X. I consider this to be a suitable remedy for the injustice.

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Agreed action

36. Within four weeks of my final decision, the Council should:
• Apologise to Mrs X and recognise the avoidable frustration caused when it incorrectly asked her for evidence she gave the day centre 24 hours’ notice on the days Mr X could not attend.
37. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

38. I completed my investigation. The Council was at fault for giving Mrs X incorrect information about the need to give 24 hours’ notice for non-attendance at the day care centre.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman