Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of care and support needs. That is because the complaint is late. Any complaint about care fees is outside our jurisdiction as the matter has been considered by the Court.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about how the Council assessed his late mother, Mrs Y’s adult social care needs. He said the Council conspired with Mrs Y’s care home, by saying that Mrs Y did not need nursing care. He said it did this as it meant Mrs Y would pay a higher fee for her care. He wants the Council to admit it did this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs Y died in 2018. Mr X is the executor of Mrs Y’s estate. The Council took legal action against him for failing to pay debts relating to her care costs. We cannot investigate a complaint where the matter has been considered by the courts. Therefore, we cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the care fees.
8. In addition, any complaints Mr X has about how the Council assessed Mrs Y’s care and support needs when she was alive are late and we will not investigate. There is no good reason to exercise our discretion to consider this complaint now.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint about the assessment of his deceased mother’s care is late, and the Council has taken legal action around the care fee debt.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman