Summary: Mrs X complained the Council increased her relative, Miss Y’s, care fees despite no change to her care, and believes it is charging for undelivered support. The Council was at fault. It failed to give Mrs X a clear and timely explanation about the increased care fees. Mrs X suffered distress and uncertainty as a result. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, make a symbolic payment, and send us evidence of improvements it says it has made.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has increased her relative, Miss Y’s, care fees despite no changes being made to the level of care she receives. She also complains the Council is charging for one-to-one care support which she believes Miss Y is not receiving.
2. Mrs X says this causes uncertainty around whether Miss Y is being correctly charged for her care. She would like certainty about whether Miss Y’s care fees are correct and that she is receiving the care she is paying for.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We may investigate complaints from the person affected by the complaint issues, or from someone else if they have given their consent. If the person affected cannot give their consent, we may investigate a complaint from a person we decide is a suitable representative. (section 26A or 34C, Local Government Act 1974)
5. 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(1), as amended)

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What I have investigated

6. I have investigated matters in this case from January 2024, when the care fees increased, to June 2025 when the Council sent Mrs X its final complaint response.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I read Mrs X’s complaint and spoke to her about it on the phone.
8. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Charging for social care

10. A council has a duty to arrange care and support for those with eligible needs, and a power to meet both eligible and non-eligible needs in places other than care homes. A council can choose to charge for non-residential care following a person’s needs assessment. Where it decides to charge, the council must follow the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 and have regard to the Care Act statutory guidance. (Care Act 2014, section 14 and 17)

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What happened

11. This is a summary of events outlining key facts and it does not include everything that has happened in this case.
12. Miss Y self-funds her care and support. In early 2024, her care fees increased after a review of the care being delivered. Mrs X complained to the Council about this, as she did not understand why. The Council explained the care plans delivered by the care provider were changed to better reflect the cost of the care being provided. This involved reflecting the number of care hours being provided on a weekly basis, split out over the shared support hours, nighttime hours, and one to one support hours. The Council says the care fees were then increased to reflect the actual level of support provided.
13. The Council explained following investigation, it was highlighted Miss Y had not been being charged for nighttime hours. So, the Council was previously undercharging Miss Y, which she has benefitted from. But, since the Council corrected this position, Miss Y’s care fees have increased to reflect the support being delivered. This caused confusion to Mrs X as it was not clear to her why the fees had increased when the care and support had not changed.
14. In response to my enquiries, the Council told me it has since recently met with Mrs X to further explain the increased fees and discuss Miss Y’s care and support hours and what has been delivered.

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Analysis

15. I have not found fault by the Council in relation to the increased care fees or its current charging, or that it has charged Miss Y for undelivered hours.
16. However, the Council’s explanation of the change in care fees and communication with Mrs X about this was not clear. In response to my enquiries, the Council has acknowledged this. It says it recognises its communication was not clear about how the change would affect Miss Y’s care fees. It says it has recently met with Mrs X to better explain this, and it believes matters are now resolved. But this was roughly two years after the increase. The Council’s failure to clearly outline the change to Mrs X at the time, and how this would increase Miss Y’s fees was fault. This caused distress and uncertainty to Mrs X.
17. We have published guidance to explain how we calculate remedies for people who have suffered injustice because of fault by a council. Our primary aim is to put people back in the position they would have been in if the fault by the Council had not occurred. In response to my enquiries, the Council told me it would like to offer a payment of £500 in recognition of the distress and uncertainty caused by its fault. This is in line with our guidance and is suitable to acknowledge the injustice.
18. The Council says it has learnt lessons from the complaint, and it has put improvements in place to ensure similar failings do not happen again in future. There also does not appear to be any current themes within our casework which highlight a systemic issue within the Council in relation to the fault identified in this case. I have therefore not made service improvement recommendations, but I welcome evidence from the Council of the improvements it says it has made.

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Action

19. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused to Mrs X by the fault I have identified, the Council will take the following actions within four weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mrs X for the distress and uncertainty caused by the Council’s failure to give a clear and timely explanation to her about Miss Y’s increased care fees. This apology should be in line with our guidance Making an effective apology.
• If it has not already done so, pay Mrs X the £500 it has offered to acknowledge the same as above.
20. Within three months of my final decision, the Council will also send me evidence of the operational improvements it says it has put in place to ensure similar failings do not happen again in future.
21. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

22. I uphold Mrs X’s complaint and find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman