West Sussex County Council (24 017 325)

Statement Upheld Direct payments 21-Aug-2025

Summary: Mr F complained the Council failed to meet his care and support needs and wrongly charged him for his care. I found no fault in the way the Council decided how to meet Mr F’s needs or in its calculations of his contributions. The Council failed to carry out a carer’s assessment of Mr F’s carer, Mr J. This was fault which causes Mr J uncertainty about whether other support could have been offered. The Council has agreed to offer a carers assessment to Mr J and pay him £300 to remedy the injustice.

Suffolk County Council (25 003 826)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Direct payments 17-Aug-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint concerning a direct payments contingency fund. This is because the complainant has confirmed the Council has resolved her complaint by adding to her care provision so we could not add anything more.

Suffolk County Council (24 016 358)

Statement Upheld Direct payments 11-Aug-2025

Summary: Miss C complained on her own behalf and that of her son, Mr D, who has care needs. We upheld her complaint, finding the Council undertook a flawed review of Mr D’s care needs. This resulted in it wrongly stopping him paying Miss C as his carer, against his wishes. This caused unnecessary distress to both Miss C and Mr D and contributed to Mr D having no organised care provision after July 2024. The Council has accepted these findings. At the end of this statement, we set out the action it has agreed to remedy this injustice and improve its service to avoid a repeat.

London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (24 017 905)

Statement Upheld Direct payments 10-Aug-2025

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to meet her assessed care needs. The Council delayed assessing Ms X’s needs, delayed setting up the direct payments and failed to provide interim care impacting Ms X’s health and wellbeing. A symbolic payment is agreed.

Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council (24 019 512)

Statement Upheld Direct payments 28-Jul-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council changed the expenses it allowed under direct payments and its communication with him about this was poor. We upheld the complaint because communication was not in line with our expected standards. The Council will apologise, make a symbolic payment and issue Mr X with a comprehensive statement about the expenses the Council allows for Mr Y’s direct payment based on his current care and support plan.

Manchester City Council (25 006 666)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Direct payments 28-Jul-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the support provided to Miss X by Adult Social Care Services. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault.

London Borough of Haringey (23 013 847)

Statement Upheld Direct payments 24-Jul-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council stopped his son Mr Y’s direct payment and did not manage the transition from childrens to adult social care adequately. We upheld the complaint. The Council did not deal with the transition in line with the Children Act 1989 or Care Act 2014. This meant Mr Y missed out on care and support to which he had a legal entitlement and Mr X lost out on opportunities to have a regular break from his caring role. Both suffered avoidable distress. The Council will apologise, make payments to reflect the injustice and review its services to ensure transition cases are dealt with in a timely manner.

Essex County Council (24 021 666)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Direct payments 29-Jun-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to stop direct payments. This is because some complaint matters are late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to consider them. In addition, of the matters remaining, there is not enough evidence of fault.

Central Bedfordshire Council (24 017 351)

Statement Not upheld Direct payments 23-Jun-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council has not made statutory redundancy payments to Ms B and Ms C. He says this caused stress and financial strain. The Ombudsman finds no fault with the Council’s decision making.

Central Bedfordshire Council (24 017 352)

Statement Not upheld Direct payments 23-Jun-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council has not made statutory redundancy payments to Ms B and Ms C. He says this caused stress and financial strain. The Ombudsman finds no fault with the Council’s decision making.