Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about direct payments and an alleged failure to make reasonable adjustments. This is because the complaint is late and it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council:
1. Failed to inform her in a timely way that she would need to start paying towards the cost of her care;
2. Gave her incorrect advice about disability-related expenditure; and
3. Failed to make reasonable adjustments in how it communicated with her about her care costs.
2. Ms X said because of the Council’s faults she has incurred debt from unpaid care costs and has been caused a period of significant distress. Ms X wants the Council to cancel her £3,492 debt and apologise.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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))

Relevant law

Disability Related Expenditure

5. Councils can take disability-related costs into account when calculating how much someone should pay towards the cost of their care. When doing so, a council should make an assessment to allow the person to keep enough benefit to pay for necessary disability-related expenditure (DRE) to meet any needs it is not meeting.

Direct payments

6. 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.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

My assessment

9. Ms X was assessed as not having to contribute towards the cost of her care when she first started using direct payments.
10. The Council wrote to Ms X in July 2024 and said she was now due to start contributing to the cost of her care due to a change in her financial circumstances.
11. A few days after receiving this letter, Ms X contacted the Council’s helpline and had a phone call to discuss the letter. A Council officer also attended her home in the same month to discuss her care costs and finances.
12. Ms X said during the meeting, the officer told her she could spend her direct payments on certain personal items as they were disability-related expenditure.
13. Ms X said she then approached a disability charity which told her she did not need to make the assessed client contributions and so Ms X did not make any.
14. More than a year later, Ms X complained to the Council and said the Council:
• was wrongly charging her for her care and failed to inform her in a timely way, so she was now in debt;
• told her at a meeting that she could spend her direct payments on personal items which was incorrect advice and she only discovered this many months later; and
• failed to make reasonable adjustments to help her understand her direct payments, causing her confusion and distress.
15. The Council’s complaint response was detailed and showed it had reviewed its case records. The Council said:
• it informed Ms X she needed to start contributing to the cost of her care in July 2024 and so the debt incurred from not making contributions was not due to any fault by the Council;
• it reviewed the officer’s notes of the meeting. It said these did not show the officer advised Ms X to spend her direct payments on personal items. It showed the officer told Ms X she could submit evidence of DRE to the Council and it would consider this when assessing the amount she should contribute towards the cost of her care; and
• Regarding reasonable adjustments, it noted she had only asked for these as part of the complaints process – more than a year after the Council first informed her she needed to start paying towards her care.
16. We expect people to complain to us within twelve months of becoming aware of the matters complained about. Ms X is complaining about the Council’s decision which it made in July 2024 and its failure to make any reasonable adjustments to how it communicated with her at that time.
17. Ms X said she did not complain earlier because she was advised by a charity that she did not need to pay towards her care costs and so she did not know there was an issue until many months later when she fell into debt. This is not a good reason that Ms X did not complain sooner. Ms X was aware from July 2024 that regardless of any third party advice, the Council had set out that it expected her to make these contributions. Ms X also should have complained sooner if any reasonable adjustments requested were not made at that time. Ms X did not do this. These complaints are late and we will not investigate them further.
18. There is also insufficient evidence of fault by the Council regarding the advice about disability-related expenditure. The Council investigated her complaint and found no supporting evidence which said its officer told her she could use her direct payments on personal items. As there is not enough evidence of fault, we will not investigate this complaint further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman