Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council placed her daughter in residential care without her authorisation and then charged her too much for her care. There is not enough evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council placed her daughter, Miss Z, into residential care without her parents’ permission and then charged her too much for her care.
2. Mrs X does not specify any injustice caused to Miss Z. However, she says it has caused her and Mr X financial hardship because Miss Z has care fee debts which they cannot afford to pay.
3. They want the Council to reduce the fees and waive the amount Miss Z owes.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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))

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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. Miss Z used to live at home and receive care. The Council had concerns and went to the Court of Protection which decided Miss Z should move to a residential placement.
8. When Miss Z received care at home, she was allowed by law to keep a personal allowance of around £180 a week from her benefits. This meant she contributed about £50 a week to her care costs.
9. The law on how much a person can keep when they move into residential care is different. Therefore, when Miss Z moved into residential care, she was allowed to keep about £30 each week from her benefits and she contributed around £230 a week towards her care costs.
10. Mrs X was unhappy with this and complained to the Council. She said the Council should waive the fees, or reduce them, because they opposed the placement. Mrs X says she and Mr X cannot afford to pay them.
11. We will not investigate this complaint. Authorisation or agreement of Miss Z’s placement by Mr and Mrs X was not needed because the Court of Protection made the decision. Mr and Mrs X had the opportunity at that time to present their objections.
12. Miss Z’s allowance dropped when she moved from home to residential care. However, this, and the Council’s financial assessment of Miss Z, are in line with the law. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
13. Any debts Miss Z owes, are for her and not for Mr and Mrs X to pay. Therefore, even if I had found evidence of fault, there is no evidence Mr and Mrs X have experienced a significant personal injustice.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman