Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council charging client contributions for adult social care. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not inform him, that his son, Mr Y, would have to make client contributions for his care. Mr X said if the Council had informed the family about the charges they would have cancelled Mr Y’s support. Mr X wants the Council to apologise and cancel the outstanding debt.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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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. The Council’s complaint response confirms that following a financial assessment in April 2023, it wrote to Mr Y’s mother and explained it had assessed Mr Y as needing to contribute to his care. In that letter, the Council set out how much Mr Y needed to contribute and what that was for. The Council said Mr X’s mother was its named point of contact for communication about Mr Y. The Council notified Mr Y’s family about the care contribution and wrote to the agreed contact. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
6. The Council accepted there were errors in an invoice it sent due to a lack of clear recording of attendance by the Care Provider. The Council confirmed it had cancelled that invoice from Mr Y’s outstanding debt. That remedies any injustice caused. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman