Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about inaccurate fees for adult social care. Although it took a long time, the Council and complainant have now agreed the outstanding fees. The main issue is resolved, and it is unlikely an Ombudsman investigation would add anything significantly different to justify our resource investigating.

The complaint

1. Ms C says the Council failed to respond to requests for the detail of claimed amounts owing from an estate for adult social care fees. The Council has failed to deal with the concern as a complaint and Ms C says it has overcharged the estate by over £4000. Ms C worries others might be similarly affected. Ms C is frustrated and stressed and wants the Council to resolve the issue.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2) and 34C(2), as amended)

3. 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 outstanding 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))

4. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms C is managing Ms D’s estate. In her lifetime Ms D received adult social care arranged by the Council; the Council said Ms D’s estate owed money for that care support.
8. In her role managing Ms D’s estate, Ms C must be satisfied any money is rightly due from the estate. It has taken her several years to get the required information from the Council. And despite addressing correspondence as a formal complaint, the Council never dealt with her concerns through its complaint procedure. This has been frustrating for Ms C.
9. Ms C and the Council have now agreed the money owing from the estate so the core issue causing the complaint is resolved.
10. We do not investigate all complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints. Although Ms C has had some unnecessary time, trouble and frustration getting the needed information from the Council, this would not be enough to justify an Ombudsman investigation.
11. Ms C has concerns others might be similarly affected. Although I appreciate Ms C’s concerns, there is not enough evidence of this to justify investigation. It would not be proportionate to ask the Council to review every account where it has sought payments from an estate. It is up to the individuals managing those estates to be satisfied with what they pay out, in the same way Ms C has done. I do not have evidence of similar complaints about this issue to justify investigation.
12. Ms C is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with her complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms C’s complaint because we are satisfied the Council has resolved the core issue. It is unlikely an Ombudsman investigation would achieve anything significantly different to justify our resource.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman