Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the Council’s actions regarding the assessment and payment for care for her grandson, Mr C. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains the Council has failed to assess her grandson, Mr C, who has complex needs within a reasonable timescale, failed to provide him with direct payment’s so he can purchase care, failed to undertake a carers assessment, and failed to review Mr C’s 2014 Child in Need care plan. Mrs B wants the Council to review the 2014 Child in Need assessment, amend it accordingly, and then use the agreed plan to form the basis of the reassessment of Mr C’s care needs.

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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 must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information and documentation Mrs B and the Council provided. I sent Mrs B a copy of my draft decision for comment.

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What I found

4. The Council considered Mrs B’s complaints. It explained it will not revisit the historic matters about the 2014 assessment and noted this matter had been raised previously and considered under the Children’s Services complaints procedures. It explained the outcome needs to focus on the future to ensure a smooth transition for Mr C into Adult Services and sent Mrs B a Direct Payment agreement so she could arrange care for him whilst they were trying to agree the care needs assessment.
5. The Council says it started a care needs assessment in November 2019. Mrs B raised concerns about the assessment in March 2020. The assessor tried to understand what changes Mrs B felt should be made and asked what additional information needed to be included from other professionals. It said by August 2020 it was not possible to reach a mutual agreement about the assessment, so the assessor sought authorisation to complete the support plan without the assessment being signed off by Mrs B. The Council says the case was passed to a Senior Assessment and Enablement Worker in November 2020 who made extensive efforts to engage with Mrs B to understand her concerns about the assessment. As part of the this process it arranged an independent mediation meeting. Actions agreed at the meeting were:

• The Council will re-send the Direct Payment agreement to Mrs B, which she will sign and send back so Mr C can have some continuity of support while the assessment is being completed.
• Mrs B will resend a list of professionals that she wanted contacting for information to be included in the assessment;
• The Council will recheck a previous CHC checklist pending on the outcome of the additional information received from healthcare professionals,
• The Council and Mrs B will work together to complete the assessment.

6. The Council says it resent the Direct Payment agreement on 7 July 2020, 17 July 2020 and 22 December 2020 but it has not been returned. The Council has confirmed Mrs B’s concerns about the assessment can still be addressed even if she signs the Direct Payment agreement. It says it has discussed her support needs and acknowledged Mrs B has been allocated an Advocate to work with her to ensure her views are understood. The Council says it made a referral on Mrs B’s behalf for a carers assessment but understood paperwork provided was not completed or returned. It says it contacted the Carers Services again and asked it to contact Mrs B to understand how they may be able to support her.
7. The Council has explained it has a statutory duty to ensure Mr B can access services he is assessed as needing and if Mrs B does not agree to sign the Direct Payment agreement it will arrange for him to have care directly.
8. The Council has explained what it is doing to try to resolve the concerns Mrs B has about the assessment and says if she continues not to engage in the process it will arrange direct care provision for Mr C. However, Mrs B does not want to undertake the actions the Council has proposed.
9. There is not enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions to warrant an Ombudsman investigation. Mrs B can engage in the assessment process, return the Direct Payment agreement and paperwork for her carers assessment or accept the Council will take action and provide care directly.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman