West Sussex County Council (24 005 924)
Category : Adult care services > Direct payments
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Oct 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision relating to a personal budget, as well as transport costs, for Miss X’s daughter’s care and support needs. It is unlikely we would find fault.
The complaint
- Miss X was unhappy with the Council’s decision that her daughter (Y) would have to fund transport costs to attend a day centre, after it carried out another assessment of her care and support needs. Miss X also said the Council reduced the amount of money that it would pay Y as part of their personal budget, following a change in the arrangements with a care provider (CP).
- Miss X said the Council’s actions have caused her stress and worry about Y’s care support.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X said the Council carried out another assessment of Y’s care and support needs. Miss X said this was because of a change in the Council’s arrangements with Y’s existing CP. After the assessment, the Council told Miss X what Y’s personal budget would be, and explained it would no longer fund the transport costs for Y to attend their chosen CP. It said because Y was receiving the mobility component of her personal independence payment (PIP), it expected this should be used to fund transport costs.
- We will not investigate the Council’s decision here. This is because if we were to investigate, it is unlikely we would find fault. The Council’s policy allows for it to make this decision in so far as persons who are in receipt of the mobility component of PIP.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman