Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s delay in completing its financial assessment of Mrs Y. This is because the delay has not caused significant enough injustice to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains on behalf of his relative, Mrs Y. Mr X complains the Council delayed its financial assessment of Mrs Y and failed to tell them it might charge for providing social care before it started to provide care. He says the Council are now seeking payment for seven months of care. He says this has caused financial hardship. He wants the Council to waive the charges as he says the family would not have agreed to care if they had known how much it cost.

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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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained,
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or

(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 Mr X and the Council.
4. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The evidence I have seen shows that before the Council started providing chargeable care services, Mrs Y had an assessment with a Council social worker. Mr X was also present during that assessment. During that assessment, the social worker gave them financial information and the Council’s Adult Social Care Factsheet. That factsheet provided information about how the Council calculates care costs and contained a link to an online costs calculator to help estimate the likely costs involved. It also provided further contact details for queries about costs.
6. Therefore, I am satisfied it is likely, on balance, Mrs Y was aware, before receiving chargeable care, that she may need to contribute towards the cost of her care. I also consider that she, or Mr X, could have estimated the care costs by either using the online costs calculator or contacting the Council about this directly.
7. I accept there was a delay in the Council completing its financial assessment, and I accept this may have caused frustration and uncertainty about the fees payable. While I accept this, as it is likely Mrs Y was aware she may need to contribute towards the cost of her care, then I do not consider the outstanding injustice to be significant enough to justify our involvement. Further, the Council has apologised for the delay and offered Mr X a payment arrangement to pay the outstanding care fees. I consider this to be suitable action to remedy the injustice the delay caused.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because the remaining injustice caused by the Council’s delay is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman