Summary: Mrs X complained the Council verbally agreed her son’s one-to-one support hours would stay the same at a review meeting, but it reduced them and failed to inform her. This led to her using the direct payments for more hours than reflected in his support plan, building up debt against her son’s account. We do not find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs X, who manages her son’s direct payments on his behalf, complains the Council verbally told her he would receive 14 hours per week of one-to-one care support but then changed this to half the hours. She says the Council did not inform her of this and she received no written confirmation. As a result, over the past year her son has built up debt as the direct payments have been used to cover the hours she thought had been agreed, without being aware the Council had reduced the amounts it would fund.
2. She says this has caused distress, frustration and inconvenience to her, and her son has been impacted as this debt has meant she has been unable to fund other things he’d like to do.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I discussed the complaint with Mrs X, Mr Y’s mother, who is dealing with the complaint on his behalf. I considered her views and the information she sent me.
7. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its written responses and information it provided.
8. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

9. A council must carry out an assessment of any adult who seems to need care and support. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where appropriate their carer or any other person they might want involved. (Care Act 2014, section 9). Having identified eligible needs through a needs assessment, the council has a duty to meet those needs. (Care Act 2014, section 18)
10. If a council decides a person is eligible for care, it must prepare a care and support plan. This must set out the needs identified in the assessment. The care and support plan should consider what the person has, what they want to achieve, what they can do by themselves or with existing support and what care and support may be available in the local area.
11. The care and support plan must set out a personal budget which specifies the cost to the local authority of meeting eligible needs, the amount a person must contribute and the amount the council must contribute. (Care Act 2014, s 26)
12. The support plan must include a personal budget, which is the money the council has worked out it will cost to arrange the necessary care and support for that person. The detail of how the person will use their personal budget will be in the care and support plan.
13. Direct payments are monetary payments made to individuals who ask for them to meet some or all of their eligible care and support needs. They enable people to arrange their own care and support to meet those needs.

Background

14. Mrs X has an adult son (“Mr Y”) with learning difficulties who resides in supported living accommodation. Mr Y had a support package in place including 14 hours one-to-one support. This was paid via a direct payment to Mrs X, who managed these on his behalf.

What happened

15. In June 2021, the Council carried out a review of Mr Y’s care and support plan. Mrs X and the manager of Mr Y’s accommodation (“Mr B”) attended.
16. The Council said it agreed to increase the amount of shared care hours with Mr Y’s housemates and reduce his personal one-to-one hours, resulting in an overall increase in the direct payment amount received. It said it had spoken to Mr B about the new hours on two further occasions after this. This arrangement started in September 2021.
17. In October 2021, the Council’s records say it emailed a copy of Mr Y’s review and updated support plan with the new hours to Mrs X and Mr B.
18. In January 2022, the Council said it sent a letter to Mr Y confirming the new amounts for his direct payments.
19. In October 2022, Mrs X said she received a phone call informing her Mr Y’s direct payment account was in debt and she later learnt of the change of hours. She complained to the Council, saying she had never been made aware of this. She had continued to use 14 one-to-one hours for Mr Y, not knowing it had been reduced, which is how the debt built up.
20. In December 2022, the Council responded. It said it had confirmed the change of hours with her verbally and in writing. It did not uphold her complaint.
21. Mrs X then complained to us. She said to me in the July 2021 review meeting, she and Mr B were verbally told Mr Y’s 14 one-to-one hours would remain the same. She said she was encouraged to ensure they were used, or they may be lost in the future. She added she was satisfied with the reduced one-to-one hours now. Her concern was the Council had never informed her of the change at the time and she never received anything in writing.
22. Mrs X sent me a letter written by Mr B, supporting her account of what they were told in the July 2021 meeting by the Council.

The Council’s response to my enquiries

23. The Council said it provided a banking service for direct payments and Mrs X instructed it to pay invoices sent directly to it by Mr Y’s supported living accommodation. It said this service does not make decisions around the direct payments as the responsibility for them lies with the nominated person.
24. It confirmed Mr Y’s direct payment account did not owe the money to the Council. It was owed to his supported accommodation who provides his care.

Analysis

25. The Ombudsman makes impartial decisions based on evidence. We weigh up available evidence, and if there is a conflict, we make findings based on what the evidence shows is more likely to have happened. Our decisions are made on the balance of probabilities, and we do not need to be ‘certain’ to reach a decision.
26. Mrs X disputes ever being told or receiving anything from the Council to confirm the change in hours. The updated support plan after the July 2021 review states the number of new hours to be included for the direct payments from September, along with the Council’s rationale for the change.
27. The Council said its records show it had sent the paperwork relating to the review and new direct payment amount to Mrs X and it had notes of further conversations with Mr B about the hours. I have seen copies of these, and I cannot say non-receipt of these was due to fault by the Council.
28. I recognise Mrs X said she was told verbally about the hours staying the same in the meeting, which Mr B has confirmed in his statement. I have taken this into consideration. However, I note the Council has written evidence of the actions it said it took at the time which were appropriately recorded. Whilst I understand Mrs X disagrees, on the balance of probabilities, I am unable to evidence fault with the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

29. I do not find fault with the actions of the Council, and I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman