Summary: I ended this investigation because the responsibility for the issues outlined in Miss X’s complaint is with the District Council. There was no worthwhile outcome achievable by completing an investigation into, and not enough evidence of fault by, the County Council.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to complete works on her child’s Disability Facilities Grant project since 2021. Miss X says this has caused her child to remain in unsuitable and unsafe living conditions causing them to experience significant distress, physical harm and discomfort. Miss X says she has also experienced emotional, physical strain and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision before I made a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant Law and Guidance

7. Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) are provided under the terms of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. Councils have a statutory duty to give grants to disabled people for certain adaptations. Before approving a grant, a council must be satisfied the work is necessary, meets the disabled person’s needs, and is reasonable and practicable.
8. Section 23 of the Care Act explains the boundary in law between care and support and general housing. Where housing legislation requires councils to provide housing services, they must provide them under housing legislation. However, this should not prevent housing and social care councils working together. The guidance states “... community equipment, along with telecare, aids and adaptations can support reablement, promote independence contributing to preventing the needs for care and support. A local [social care] authority may wish to draw on the assistance of the housing authority and local housing services.”
9. The government issued non-statutory guidance “Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) Delivery: Guidance for local authorities in England (the Guidance) in March 2022.
10. The Guidance sets out how DFG’s will be handled where the Borough or District Council is the housing authority and the County Council has duties towards a disabled child. The Guidance makes it clear the housing authority has the statutory duty to provide adaptations and administer DFGs through all stages from the initial enquiry to post-completion.

What happened

11. In 2021, the County Council’s Occupational Therapist completed an assessment of Miss X’s child, Y, and made a referral for a Disability Facility Grant application.
12. In March 2022, Miss X received a new Occupational Therapist and new plans were provided to Miss X. The Occupational Therapist presented the approved plans to planning.
13. Miss X complained to the County Council in 2023 about the delays at the planning stage.
14. In August 2023, planning approval was granted for the plans and the Council moved to costing and technical assessment.
15. The panel agreed extra funding in principal for new plans in May 2024.
16. Miss X made a new complaint to the Council in October 2024. Miss X said:
• The Disability Facilities Grant application home adaptations had not been completed despite being advised in May 2024 this only needed to be signed off and go to tender.
• Since Y’s first assessment, Y had grown significantly and it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
• The Occupational Therapist has exhausted all interim options of support to meet Y’s needs while waiting on the adaptations.
17. The Council issued a complaint response in November 2024. The Council said:
• It apologised the Disability Facilities Grant adaptations are ongoing and the matter remains unresolved.
• It would follow up with senior management about funding and the progress towards completion of the adaptations.
18. Miss X made a formal request in December 2024 to advance to stage two of the Council’s complaint process.
19. The Council issued a stage two complaint response in February 2025. The Council upheld Miss X complaint about the delays in progression with the adaptations and acknowledged the grant process had taken an unacceptably long time and apologised.

Consideration

20. This complaint is against the social care authority, the County Council. The local housing authority is the District Council. The County Council and the District Council have a shared protocol for dealing with DFGs.
21. The District Council is responsible for deciding the scope of the works, the cost of the adaptations and for technical decisions about what adaptations are feasible. It has agreed the County Council will handle the works done under the DFG, but the District Council remains responsible for these.
22. I cannot investigate the District Council’s actions as part of this complaint about the County Council. Miss X would need to make a complaint to the District Council about its role and responsibilities in the DFG process.
23. The County Council is responsible for meeting the needs of the disabled child and for the Occupational Therapist’s role in making sure the adaptations are necessary and appropriate.
24. The Occupational Therapist’s role in Miss X’s complaint largely related to recommendations they made in 2021 and 2022. The Occupational Therapist then had a role in providing interim options of support for Y while the Disability Facilities Grant was completed. Miss X only brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in October 2025. The Ombudsman can only look at matters a person has brought to our attention in the last 12 months. The main role of the Occupational Therapist in Miss X’s complaint falls at least two years outside this 12-month period.
25. Miss X also confirmed in her complaint correspondence with the Council she considered the Occupational Therapist had exhausted all interim options of support. Miss X has not complained about the ongoing support offered by the Occupational Therapist.
26. There is no dispute the DFG process has experienced delays and has taken significantly longer than it should have, but these delays were not because of fault by the Council’s Occupational Therapist service.

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Decision

27. I have ended my investigation because this Council is not the responsible body for the main issues in Miss X’s complaint. I cannot achieve a worthwhile outcome from further investigation and there is no evidence of fault by this Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman