Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council failed to fund a package of support for her son, Mr Z, whilst she was on holiday. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that the Council failed to provide direct payments for her adult son, Mr Z, to pay for care for when she and the rest of the family go on holiday.
2. Mrs X says that because Mr Z cannot be left on his own, she has had to use her carer’s allowance to pay for his care. She says she was recently informed by her solicitor that she cannot do that and so that means she can no longer go on holiday.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X says that when she and her family went on holiday and Mr Z did not want to go with them, she would use her carer’s allowance to pay for Mr Z’s Aunt to look after him.
7. Mrs X says that after being told by her solicitor that she could not do this, she contacted the Council for Mr Z to receive direct payments to pay for the care. She was unhappy with the Council’s actions and complained to the Ombudsman.
8. In its complaint response the Council said Mr Z’s Aunt had said she no longer wished to support him. The Council had offered several alternatives, including a paid personal assistant and a care package but both Mrs X and Mr Z had declined these. The Council said that as a result, it was unable to resolve the situation.
9. The Council has taken appropriate steps to put a package of care in place for Mr Z. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman