Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to provide clear information about his son’s proposed care plan, of the use and management of his son’s direct payments, and about the Council’s decision to recover direct payment money. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to provide clear information about his son’s proposed care plan and around the use and management of his son’s direct payments. He also complains about the Council’s decision to recover direct payment money.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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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. Mr X’s son, Mr Z, has care and support needs and had a care and support plan. The Council met these needs by providing a direct payment. Mr X signed a direct payment agreement in January 2020.
6. The Council confirmed it completed a monitoring of the direct payments between January and August 2020. During this period, the Council identified that the direct payment money was being paid into a personal account owned by Mr X and that the money was spent on things that were not specified in Mr X’s care and support plan.
7. The Council provided evidence it made Mr X aware of the debt in January 2021 as it issued Mr X an invoice for the recovery of direct payment funds. The Council also provided its case records which shows its recovery team contacted Mr X about the debt in March 2021. Mr X also raised a complaint about the invoice in February 2021.
8. Therefore, the evidence shows Mr X was aware of the money the Council intended to reclaim since January 2021. Mr X was also aware of his concerns about the invoice and had demonstrated he was disputing the money the Council wanted to reclaim as he had raised a complaint in 2021. Therefore, if Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s response, it was reasonable for Mr X to have complained to us earlier. I do not consider there are any good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint now.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman