Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Disabled Facilities Grant as there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to ask him to reapply for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) for his brother, Mr Y. He said the Council had previously approved the DFG and had not told him it had been cancelled. He wants the Council to approve the funding to allow the adaptations to Mr Y’s property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council’s complaint response stated it initially received the Occupational Therapists referral for Mr Y’s DFG application in 2017. The Council said it sent Mr X an email in March 2021 about progressing that application, as it had not had contact from him since August 2020.
6. The Council said it did not receive a response to that email, so it wrote to Mr X in June 2021 stating it had cancelled the application. It said because of the time that had passed since the 2017 assessment, Mr Y would need a new Occupational Therapy referral for the adaptations, as his needs might have changed. It asked Mr X to arrange a new Occupational Therapists assessment.
7. Although Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s actions, we will not investigate this complaint further. The Council’s complaint response indicates Mr X did not contact it about progressing the DFG application for 17 months. We would not be critical of the Council cancelling an application given this lack of communication. In addition, the Council has given cogent reasons for why a new application is needed; therefore, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our investigating.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman