Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council charging him a contribution for his care and support. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council charging him a contribution for his care and support. He says the Council has forced him into debt because he cannot afford the assessed charges.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 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))

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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 X had been assessed as having eligible care needs. To meet these needs, the Council had provided Mr X with direct payments to allow him to arrange his own care and support. The Council completed a financial assessment which found Mr X did not have to pay any contribution towards the cost of his care package.
6. In January 2023, the Council reviewed Mr X’s case and identified that his child no longer lived with him. This change of circumstances meant Mr X now had to pay a contribution towards his care and support. The Council acknowledged it had failed to review Mr X’s case since 2019 and therefore made the decision not to backdate any care charges despite Mr X’s child moving out several years ago. The Council wrote to Mr X and explained he had to pay a contribution of just under £65 per week from February 2023 onwards.
7. Between February and May 2023, Mr X disputed the financial assessment. The Council told Mr X why he now had to pay and confirmed he could submit a disability related expenses (DRE) form to try and reduce his charges. While Mr X advised the Council he could not afford the charges, he did not ask the Council to stop his direct payments.
8. In May 2023, the Council issued Mr X a new letter detailing his assessed charges. The Council noted some DRE had been allowed which lowered the charges a little. At this point, Mr X still did not ask the Council to stop his direct payments.
9. In August 2023, the Council completed a care review. During this review, Mr X again confirmed he could not afford to pay but also specifically asked the Council to keep his care hours in place until he had spoken to the charging team.
10. At the end of August 2023, Mr X asked the Council to cancel his direct payments. Mr X confirmed his carer stopped working for him early September 2023.
11. An investigation is not justified as we are not likely to find fault. This is because the Council fully explained to Mr X why he now needed to contribute towards the cost of his care. The Council is allowed, by law, to charge people for the cost of their care and support. The Council also followed the correct process by completing a financial assessment to appropriately determine his contributions.
12. The Council also appropriately cancelled Mr X’s direct payments when requested. The Council confirmed Mr X has only been charged up to the point of his carer’s last working day. I do not consider the Council should have cancelled the direct payments/care package any earlier due to Mr X asking the Council to keep the care hours in place and because he never made a specific request for the care package/direct payments to be stopped until August 2023.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman