Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to include her mother’s property as capital in her financial assessment and not to apply a discretionary disregard. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s decision to include her mother’s property as capital in her financial assessment. She wants the Council to disregard the property and fund her mother’s care home.

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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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Miss X’s mother, Ms Z, moved permanently into a care home in November 2020. Miss X moved into her mother’s property in October 2022.
7. Annex B of the care and support statutory guidance sets out the situation where a property must be disregarded for financial assessment purposes. The guidance sets out this only applies where the property has been continuously occupied since before the person went into a care home. This did not apply to Ms Z’s situation as Miss X moved into her mother’s property after her mother had already moved to a care home.
8. The guidance also sets out that councils have discretion to disregard the property when a qualifying relative moves into the property after the resident enters a care home. The guidance stats councils will need to consider all relevant factors in deciding whether the property must be disregarded. Factors such as timing and purpose of the move may be relevant to establishing if the property is the relative’s main or only home. Further, councils should consider if the principal reason for the move is that it is necessary to ensure the relative has somewhere to live as their main or only home. It states local authorities need to ensure people are not needlessly maintained at public expense.
9. Miss X asked the Council to apply a discretionary disregard. The Council considered Miss X’s situation, including:
• Miss X had fled her property due to domestic violence.
• Miss X had been going through the process of divorce for over four years.
• Miss X owned 100% of the property she had to flee and so she would have somewhere to move into or sell once the divorce was finalised.
• Miss X confirmed the situation was temporary while court proceedings were ongoing.
• Miss X had evicted the tenants that were living in Ms Z’s property and this put Ms Z in a worse financial position.
10. After consideration of the case, the Council decided not to exercise discretion. The Council determined that Miss X’s move into the property was not permanent nor at the direction of the courts. The Council also noted Miss X could have rented an alternative property or approached the Council’s housing department for support.
11. An investigation is not justified as we are not likely to find fault. This is because the Council considered all relevant facts before making its decision to decline to exercise discretion to disregard Ms X’s property. As the Council followed a proper decision making process, we could not find fault with the decision itself.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman