Summary: Ms X complains the Council wrongly decided she could not use her direct payment allowance to fund moving house. She says this caused her unnecessary stress and financial strain. We find no fault with the Council’s decision-making.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her care and support needs. Specifically, she complains the Council:
1. wrongly decided she could not use her direct payment allowance to fund moving house; and
2. delayed reviewing her care and support plan.
2. Ms X says this caused her unnecessary stress and financial strain.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)
6. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
7. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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What I have and have not investigated

8. Ms X complains the Council delayed reviewing her care and support plan. As I have explained above, we cannot investigate matters unless we are satisfied the Council has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. I consider it was reasonable for Ms X to complete the Council’s complaints process, and she did not do so. For this reason, I have not investigated part b of her complaint.
9. I have only investigated part a of the complaint.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
11. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered all comments received before making this final decision.

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What I found

What should have happened

12. 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. The council must ensure people have relevant and timely information about direct payments so they can decide whether to request them. If they do so, the council should support them to use and manage the payment properly.
13. The Council’s direct payment policy says direct payments can only be used to purchase support to meet a person’s assessed eligible care and support needs and outcomes.
14. The Council’s policy says direct payments cannot be used for general household bills and living costs.

What happened

15. Ms X received direct payments to meet her eligible care and support needs.
16. In January 2025, the Council completed a reassessment of Ms X’s needs. It identified Ms X lived in a remote area and did not have access to a personal assistant.
17. In May, Ms X told the Council she was moving to a different area because she was unable to employ a personal assistant due to the location of her home. She asked for permission to use her direct payments to fund her moving costs. The same day, the Council contacted her to arrange alternative support at home.
18. A week later, the Council told Ms X it has considered her request and decided it did not give permission for her to use the direct payments she accrued to fund her moving costs. It advised her to seek charity funding instead.
19. Ms X appealed the Council’s decision. She told the Council she was moving to meet her care and support needs and needed support to prepare to move. She told the Council pursuing charity funding was not appropriate because if she was successful, it was unlikely she would receive the money before her house move.
20. In late May, the Council told Ms X it had considered her appeal and decided not to change its decision. It told her it made its decision in line with its policy. It said it would contact her with other funding options to support her with her house move.
21. A week later, the Council contacted Ms X with a list of charity funding options.

Analysis

22. I am satisfied the Council considered all available information in its decision-making and made its decision in line with its policy. I am also satisfied the Council communicated its decision to Ms X promptly and she was aware the Council had decided not to give her permission when she chose to use the direct payment money to fund the move. I find no fault with the Council’s decision-making and so I cannot criticise the outcome.

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Decision

23. I find no fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman