Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the way the Council managed her transfer of care from another council and its management of her direct payment pre-paid card. This is because an investigation would not lead to any worthwhile outcomes.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the way the Council managed her transfer of care from another council and its management of her direct payment pre-paid card.

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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 another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(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.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In 2023, Miss X complained about the Council disclosing her personal data to a third party without her permission and about a social worker making an unannounced visit to her home.
6. In response to her complaint, the Council acknowledged there had been a data breach regarding her information being shared with a third party without her consent to do so. The Council apologised for this and reminded the team of the need to obtain consent before sharing confidential information.
7. With regards to the unannounced visit, the Council said the social worker did this because there was concern about her wellbeing due to Miss X not having responded to some queries from the Council. The Council confirmed the social worker had spoken to Miss X’s concierge and informed them they were a social worker.
8. An investigation is not justified because Miss X could have complained to the Information Commissioner’s Office if she was unhappy about how the Council dealt with the data breach.
9. We are also not likely to find fault with the social worker for visiting Miss X unannounced as the Council can make visits to service users if there is concern about their welfare. Additionally, an investigation would not lead to any further findings or outcomes as we are not likely to make any finding on what information the social worker discussed with Miss X’s concierge on the day of the unannounced visit.
10. In 2024, Miss X complained about issues with her pre-paid direct payment card. She said there were issues making payments which meant she had to use her own money to pay her care provider. The Council has refunded her for the full amount paid out of pocket. Therefore, an investigation is not justified as the Council has already provided an appropriate remedy.
11. The Council has also investigated the matter with the card provider. It is noted that the card provider was of the view there was no issue with the card and that the issue was potentially user error. I note Miss X disputes this. An investigation is not justified as we are not likely to reach any different findings as we would be unable to say what the issue with the pre-paid card was due to the conflicting evidence.
12. In addition, the Council has offered to send Miss X a new card and offered the use of a third party to manage the direct payments at no cost to her. I am satisfied these are reasonable offers to try and address the payment issues and an investigation would not lead to any further recommendations.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because an investigation would not lead to any worthwhile outcomes.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman