Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council calculated what she should pay towards her care. There was no fault in the way the Council reached its decision about which of her purchases were disability-related expenditure and which were normal household expenses.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about how the Council calculated what she should pay towards her care. She says the Council failed to properly consider her disability related expenditure, causing her financial hardship. She wants the Council to reconsider her expenditure and recalculate her care contribution.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. 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

4. I have discussed the complaint with Mrs X’s representative and considered the information they provided. I have also considered information provided by the Council.
5. Mrs X and the Council have had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Disability Related Expenditure

6. Councils can take disability-related benefit into account when calculating how much someone should pay towards the cost of their care. When doing so, a council should make an assessment to allow the person to keep enough benefit to pay for necessary disability-related expenditure (DRE) to meet any needs it is not meeting.

What happened

7. Mrs X receives direct payments from the Council for care services at home and makes a weekly contribution to her care costs. In early 2023 Mrs X sent the Council details of DRE she considered necessary to meet her care needs. In June 2023 she complained the Council had still not considered her DRE claim.
8. The Council reviewed Mrs X’s care contribution in August 2023 and considered Mrs X’s claim for DRE. It allowed some items from Mrs X’s claim, including work to her driveway to enable wheelchair access to her home, a recliner chair and powered wheelchair.
9. The Council said it would not include items Mrs X had bought before her direct payments or items she had not provided receipts for. It also said it considered several items Mrs X had claimed for to be normal household expenses. The Council wrote to Mrs X in September 2023 giving details of what DRE it had accepted and telling Mrs X her care contribution would be £7.54 a week. The Council backdated the contribution to November 2022.
10. Mrs X remained unhappy and continued to complain to the Council. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint in March 2024. It said any DRE needed to be linked to Mrs X’s care needs and it had explained its reasons for refusing some items in its email from September 2023. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman. She provided the Ombudsman with a list of items she considered to be DRE and her reasons.
11. In November 2024 the Council reviewed Mrs X’s contribution again and increased it to £28.97 a week from 1 August 2024.

My findings

12. When assessing Mrs X’s DRE, the Council considered the information Mrs X provided at the time and explained why it refused certain items. The Council was entitled to refuse items with no receipt, and those that pre-dated Mrs X’s direct payment agreement. It was for the Council to decide what items it considered were disability related expenditure and which it considered were normal household expenditure. There is no evidence of fault in the way it has done this, based on the information Mrs X provided. The Council is not at fault.
13. Mrs X has since provided the Ombudsman with more details of why she needs some of the items to meet her care needs. It is open to Mrs X to submit these reasons to the Council. We would expect the Council to consider this, decide if the items qualify as DRE, and provide Mrs X with its reasons.

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Final decision

14. I have completed my investigation and make a finding of no fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman