Warrington Council (24 020 607)
Category : Adult care services > Direct payments
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 May 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to pay the full cost of the complainant’s care. This is because the matter has been to court.
The complaint
- In short, Mr X complains about the Council’s refusal to pay the full cost of the care he is receiving via direct payments.
- Mr X says the Council has set the rate of pay at £16.00 per hour. Mr X says he cannot buy care from a service provider or agency for less than £20.00 per hour locally.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
- The courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- 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.
- Mr X has told me that he applied to judicially review the Council’s decision. But this action did not proceed as ‘permission was refused’.
- We will not investigate. This is because Mr X’s complaint is caught by the restriction on our powers as he took legal action against the Council.
- That the court ‘refused permission’ does not mean legal determination did not take place. This is because the judge decided Mr X did not have grounds for a case against the Council.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has been to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman