Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s delay to fund residential care costs. The Council remedied the injustice caused during its complaint investigation. We could not add to the previous investigation by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains about the Council’s delay to agree funding to pay residential care fees after his mother moved into a nursing home. Mr B says the Council’s delay to accept it was responsible for care fees caused significant distress to Mr B’s father and the rest of the family as they felt financially pressured. As an outcome Mr B wants the Council to pay the care costs which are owed, provide a full response and change its policies to prevent similar mistakes and compensate him and his family for the impact the faults had on them.

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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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(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. Mr B said he contacted the Council in August 2024 due to his mother’s needs increasing and because his father and domiciliary carers could no longer manage her needs at home.
6. Mr B said it was difficult to get advice from the Council, so the family decided to move his mother into a nursing home respite placement in a different Council’s area (Council X). Mr B said a dispute then followed between the Council and Council X about who was responsible for his mother’s residential care fees. Mr B said his family was placed under financial pressure and struggled to pay residential care costs during the dispute.
7. Mr B complained to the Council in December 2024 as he felt it had delayed taking responsibility for his mother’s residential care costs. He also complained the Council had failed to send him details of its complaints procedure and caused his family financial hardship.
8. The Council replied to the complaint in July 2025. It apologised for the considerable delay and said this was due workload pressures. This meant is complaints team did not receive Mr B’s complaint until two months after it was submitted.
9. The Council said its legal team had initially advised Mr B’s mother was ordinarily resident in Council X’s area. It said it reversed this decision in January 2025 and it then worked to agree funding arrangements. It confirmed it had agreed a reimbursement of care fees of £31,350. It said the home would contact Mr B to repay care fees the family had paid. The Council apologised to Mr B and his family as it recognised the delay had placed them in a difficult financial position. It said it work with its complaints team to improve response times.
10. We will not investigate this complaint because we could not add to the Council’s previous investigation. During its investigation the Council accepted it was at fault and remedied the injustice caused. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because we could not add to the Council’s previous investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman