Summary: We will not investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to charge them an assessed contribution towards their care. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr and Mrs X complain about the Council’s decision to charge them an assessed contribution towards the cost of their care. They also complain they have been asked to pay backdated personal contributions. They say this has caused distress and financial loss. They want the Council to pay the full cost of their care.

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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.

(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. A council can choose to charge for non-residential care following a care needs assessment. Where it decides to charge, it must carry out a financial assessment to decide what a person can afford to pay. The amount a person is assessed as needing to pay is their assessed contribution.
6. A person can ask the council to meet their care and support needs by agreeing to a direct payment. This is where the money allocated to meet their care needs is paid directly to the individual, to enable them to arrange and pay for their own care.
7. The Council’s direct payment agreement sets out that where a person is assessed as being required to pay a contribution to their care costs, this assessed contribution must be paid directly into the direct payment account.
8. In 2024, the Council agreed to Mr and Mrs X’s request for a direct payment to enable them to employ a carer to meet their needs. It initially agreed to backdate the direct payment to March 2023. Mr and Mrs X complained and said their carer had been providing them with care and support since August 2022. They asked the Council to backdate the start date of care and the direct payment to this date. The Council agreed to this request.
9. The Council completed financial assessments to determine Mr and Mrs X’s assessed contribution. In line with the direct payment agreement, it asked Mr and Mrs X to pay their assessed contribution into the direct payment account.
10. We will not investigation this complaint. The law allows councils to charge for care and support, following a financial assessment. This is the case regardless of whether the council is meeting care needs by providing a care package directly, or through a direct payment.
11. Mr and Mrs X asked the Council to backdate the start of care and the direct payment to August 2022 and the Council agreed to this. As this is the agreed start date of care, it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision to charge Mr and Mrs X their assessed contribution from this date. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to charge or backdate the assessed contribution to the start of care, so we will not investigate.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman