Summary: Mr J complained the Council had wrongly assessed his finances and as a result was wrongly charging him for the cost of his care and support and transport. We have ended our investigation as the Council has now re-assessed Mr J’s finances, determined he has no contribution to make and cleared his debt. There is therefore nothing further we can achieve by investigating.

The complaint

1. Ms F complained on behalf of her brother, Mr J, that the Council had wrongly assessed his finances and as a result was wrongly charging him for the cost of his care and support and transport.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully.
3. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
4. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide: further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

Back to top

What I have and have not investigated

6. I have ended our investigation. I explain why in the rest of this statement.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Ms F and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Ms F and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Charging for adult social care

9. Where a council arranges care and support to meet a person’s needs, it may charge the adult for the cost of the care.
10. Councils must assess the means of people who have less than the upper capital limit, to decide how much they can contribute towards the cost of their care. In assessing what a person can afford to pay, a council must take into account their income, such as pensions or benefits.
11. People receiving care and support other than in a care home need to keep a certain level of income to cover their living costs. After charging, a person’s income must not reduce below a weekly amount known as the minimum income guarantee (MIG). This is set by the Government and reviewed each year.

What happened

12. Mr J has autism, learning disability and depression. He lives with his family who support him with meals, household tasks, community access, medication management and managing his finances, as he had been assessed as lacking capacity to manage money.
13. Mr J had been attending college with transport funded by the Council. In 2026 he started attending a day centre three days a week.
14. Ms F says in 2024 the Council said the family should pay for the transport to college. There was an assessment of Mr J’s finances in March 2025. This found he should contribute £66 per week to the cost of his care and transport.
15. The family disputed this amount. They said Mr J could not afford it due to other costs, such as rent, council tax and petrol costs, that the Council had not taken into account.
16. They complained to the Council in September 2025 that they had received bills which Mr J could not afford to pay. The Council replied that the calculations were correct and there was a debt of almost £4,000. Ms F came to the Ombudsman.
17. In January 2026, the Council agreed that Mr J’s rent, council tax and petrol costs should be taken into account in his financial assessment as costs and disability related expenditure. As a result, it re-assessed his finances and determined that he had had nil contributions since April 2022. It therefore cleared the debt and advised us of this in May 2026.
18. As the Council has now amended Mr J’s financial assessment and cleared the debt, there is nothing further I can achieve by investigating the complaint.

Back to top

Decision

19. We have ended our investigation. The Council has taken action which has resolved the issue and no further action by the Ombudsman is needed.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman