Summary: Mr X complained the Council did not provide detailed information about the cost of his mother’s care when the care was arranged, which meant the family were not able to make an informed choice about it. We asked the Council to remedy the injustice caused and it agree to apologise, make a symbolic payment to Mr X and to remind relevant staff of the importance of providing as much information possible about the likely costs of care when it is arranged.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to give the family accurate information about the cost of his mother, Mrs Y’s care package, which began in mid-April 2023, until 9 June 2023. He said this meant the family could not make an informed choice about the care provider. Mr X also says Mrs Y should only have to pay for care provided after the care plan was signed.

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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 investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

What happened

7. Mrs Y, who has dementia and was living at home independently, was admitted to hospital in January 2024 after a fall. She remained in hospital for three months. The hospital informed the Council Mrs Y would need a care package when she returned home. However, the family decided she should return home before the care package was in place because they were concerned about the level of care she was receiving in hospital.
8. Soon afterwards, the family asked for support and the Council put a crisis support package in place, starting that evening. It arranged a care package, which began in mid- April 2023. I have seen the Council’s record of a telephone call with Mr X at that time in which it advised him a financial assessment would need to be completed “as [Mrs Y] may have to contribute towards her care”. I have also seen records to show it sent a financial information form, with general information about charging for adult social care, two days later. That letter also provided a link to the relevant part of the Council’s web-site for more detailed information about charging.
9. At a home visit on 23 May, the Council recorded it “Discussed the weekly assessed contribution when his mother’s financial assessment is completed”. It asked Mr X to complete a financial assessment form, which he returned within two days. I have also seen the Council’s record of a telephone conversation with Mr X on 31 May 2023 in which it advised him that, as Mrs Y had a property other than her main home, this would be taken into account when assessing how much she had to pay towards her care and would mean she would have to pay the full cost of that care.
10. On 8 June, Mr X asked the Council to reduce the care package, which it agreed to do. On 13 June, in a home visit, the Council again explained Mrs Y would need to pay the full cost of her care. It recorded the family had been looking at other care providers and had found at least one that would be cheaper than the current care provider.
11. On 14 June 2023, the Council sent the family a copy of the care and support plan for Mrs Y, which was dated 6 June 2023. In late June, Mr X asked the Council to reduce the care package further, on the basis the family would meet most of Mrs Y’s support needs. From early July, the family made its own arrangements for Mrs Y’s care.
12. The Council completed the financial assessment on 16 October 2023 and issued an invoice for the cost of Mrs Y’s care (for the period from mid-April to early July 2023) in January 2024.

My assessment

13. We cannot consider any complaint about advice given by the hospital discharge team as we have no power to investigate the actions of health professionals.
14. We usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months of the events complained about. Mr X complained to us in October 2024 about events from April 2023, so part of the period complained about is late. That said, Mr X did not have notice of the likely costs until June 2023 and did not receive an invoice until January 2024, following which he pursued the Council to resolve the matter. Therefore, there are good reasons for us to consider the period from April 2023.
15. If we investigated the complaint about the Council, it is likely we would find it was at fault for not providing sufficiently detailed information to the family about the cost of the care when it arranged it, and for delays in completing the financial assessment and issuing an invoice.
16. In this case, due to Mrs Y owning other properties, it would have been clear she would need to pay the full cost of her care before completing the financial assessment. Although the Council gave the family general information about charging for adult social care, which would have alerted them to the likelihood she would have to pay the full cost of her care, it did not confirm this or inform the family of the actual cost of that care when it was arranged. This means the family were not able to make informed decisions about Mrs Y’s care for the first few weeks.
17. That said, the Council is entitled to charge for the care it arranged, and our usual approach would be to recommend a symbolic payment to remedy any uncertainty caused to the family.
18. Therefore, we asked the Council to take steps to remedy the injustice caused and it has agreed to take the following action within one month of the date of this decision:
• apologise to Mr X in line with our guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice;
• pay him £150 to remedy the uncertainty caused; and
• remind relevant staff of the importance of providing as much information as possible about the likely costs of adult social care at the time they arrange it and ensuring they make a full record of the advice and information given.

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Final decision

19. We have upheld Mr X’s complaint but will not investigate further because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused and improving its service for others.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman