Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s demand for Mr and Mrs X to repay direct payment monies for their daughter. This is because the Council cancelled its demand on receipt of the family’s explanations for why the money had been used. Therefore the family have not been caused a significant injustice as a result of the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mr and Mrs X complain on behalf of their daughter, Miss Y. Mr and Mrs X say the Council has failed to clearly set out what their daughter’s direct payments can be used for. They say the lack of clarity from the Council is holding back their daughter’s development and independence.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr and Mrs X complain the Council wrote to them in September 2019 to ask for some direct payment monies to be repayed. This was because the Council said that the direct payments had not been used for their intended purpose.
6. Mr and Mrs X wrote to the Council to complain and the Council accepted their explanations for why the money had been used and in November 2019 it cancelled the demand for the money to be repaid.
7. The Council responded further to Mr and Mrs X’s complaint in January 2020, however Mr and Mrs X did not raise a further complaint until they contacted the Ombudsman in June 2021 and then the Council in July 2021. The Council wrote to Mr and Mrs X in October 2021 to say it would carry out a new assessment of Miss Y’s needs. The Council also said that officers responsible for monitoring direct payments would check with Miss Y’s social workers before questioning payments with the family in future.
8. The Council is entitled to question the use of direct payments if these do not appear to be being used for their intended purposes. The family provided an explanation for issues raised by the Council and the Council cancelled its demand for direct payments to be repaid. The Council only issued one payment demand and withdrew this within a short timescale on receipt of the family’s explanations. Therefore, the family have not been caused a significant injustice as a result of the Council’s actions and we will not investigate this complaint.
9. The Council has now agreed to reassess Miss Y’s needs and try to be more specific in terms of what direct payments could be used for.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint because they have not been caused a significant injustice as a result of the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman