Summary: The investigation into the way the Council dealt with Mrs Y’s direct payments will be discontinued. The Council has proposed a fair remedy and we would not be able to add anything to the outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the way the Council has dealt with the direct payments for his late mother, Mrs Y’s care.

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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 provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have:

• considered the complaint and discussed it with Mr X;
• considered the correspondence between Mr X and the Council, including the Council’s response to the complaint;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the responses;
• offered Mr X and the Council an opportunity to comment on a draft of this document, and considered the comments made.

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What I found

4. Mrs Y began receiving direct payments from the Council in 2015, Mr X was the nominated paid personal assistant.
5. Between September 2020 & March 2021 Mrs Y received NHS Continuing Health Care funding (CHC). When this funding ceased the Council assumed responsibility for meeting Mrs Y’s care needs.
6. Mr X says the Council reassessed Mrs Y’s care needs on 30 March 2021 and concluded she needed 17 hrs a week paid support. At the time there was a small amount of money left in the direct payment account and Mr X used this to pay himself.
7. Mr X says the Council has not provided funding since 25 May 2021, and he has not been paid for the formal support he provided. He says the direct payment agreement included funds for four weeks respite care, and this was provided by Mrs Y’s daughter, Mrs W, between 5 & 28 July 2021. Mrs W has also not been paid.
8. Mr X says the NHS crisis team provided short-term respite care in July 2021.
9. Mrs Y went into residential care in late July 2021. She passed away in October 2021.
10. Mr X invested a significant amount of time and trouble trying to resolve the matter and supplied the Council with all the evidence it requested. He complained to the Council on 27 April 2021. He received a final response on 30 July 2021. He says the Council agreed to pay the funds requested, but it still has not done so.

The Council’s response

11. In response to my enquiries, the Council says the complaint was reviewed at a ‘senior level’. It accepts it delayed in reinstating the direct payment arrangement for Mrs Y’s care when she was assessed as no longer eligible for NHS CHC funding from 3 March 2021. It also accepts there was a delay in completing the contracts and payments for services provided by X. It proposed the following remedy.

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Agreed remedy

12. The Council will within four weeks of the final decision:

• provide Mr X with a written apology to acknowledge the delays in completing the processes required to ensure that the payments can take place and the distress this has caused Mr X and his family
• complete the payments of the outstanding invoices provided by Mr X for the care and support he provided from 25 May 2021 to the 20 July 2021 when CHC funding recommenced
• pay the two Personal Assistants their outstanding monies, and the estate the money already paid to Mrs W for the support she provided. This will include a goodwill gesture in paying the travel expense payment of £207 to the emergency PA who covered the period when Mr X advised he could not work as Mrs Y’s PA following GP recommended rest.
• waive the outstanding client contribution of £1,310.16 in recognition of the time and trouble Mr X has experienced during this period. The client contribution debt was accrued between 01/03/2021 and 18/07/2021.
• implement identified learning in relation to improving its advice and guidance to family members who are formally appointed via a direct payment agreement. It will also improve processes to ensure that all formal requirements are put in place from the outset of the agreement.

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Final decision

13. The investigation into the way the Council dealt with Mrs Y’s direct payments will be discontinued. The Council has proposed a fair remedy and we would not be able to add anything to the outcome.
14. It is on this basis; the complaint will be closed.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman