Warwickshire County Council (25 019 521)
Category : Adult care services > Charging
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s charging as there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- Ms X complains the Council has charged her father for care she says should have been paid for by the local Integrated Care Board.
- Ms X would like the Council to credit the disputed charge back to the account.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X complained the Council did not carry out an assessment for NHS Continuing Healthcare when her father was put on end of life care at a local hospice.
- The Council explained that although it asked for a Continuing Healthcare assessment to be carried out at the time, this was not done.
- The local Integrated Care Board has responsibility for assessing eligibility for Continuing Healthcare, not the Council.
- Ms X said the Council should pursue a refund of fees from the Integrated Care Board as this is causing additional distress to the family.
- As the decision whether the fees should have been covered under Continuing Healthcare is not for the Council, we are unlikely to find it at fault for how it has dealt with the issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman