Summary: There were delays in the Council assessing Mrs X’s needs and the layout of her shower room. The Council should write to Mrs X to apologise.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains there were delays in the Council carrying out the Ombudsman’s recommendations from her previous complaint (17013420). Mrs X says the Council failed to contact her within two weeks of the Ombudsman’s final decision to reassess her needs and the suitability of a shower installed in her property. Mrs X says the Council failed to carry out work within three months of the Ombudsman’s decision in line with the recommendations made.
2. Mrs X says she was put to time and trouble pursuing the Council unnecessarily.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have spoken to Mrs X about her complaint and considered our findings in her previous complaint about the Council.
6. I have also considered the Council’s response to my enquiries.
7. I have written to Mrs X and the Council with my draft decision and given them an opportunity to comment.

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What I found

8. In August 2018 the Ombudsman issued a decision against the Council. This was in relation to Mrs X’s complaint about the way it had carried out adaptations to a shower room in her property. The Ombudsman found there was fault in the way the adaptations were carried out. To remedy this we said the Council should:
• Apologise to Mrs X and pay her £300 within 8 weeks of our final decision.
• Visit Mrs X to assess her current needs and the layout of her bathroom to see what work is needed within 2 weeks of our decision.
• Carry out any necessary work to the property within three months of our decision.
9. On 11 September 2018 Mrs X informed the Ombudsman that she had not heard from the Council regarding the assessment of her current needs. Mrs X said she was due to go on holiday from 12 September 2018.
10. The Ombudsman e-mailed the Council on the same day to ask why no assessment had taken place and to advise that Mrs X was due to go on holiday.
11. The Council wrote to Mrs X on 13 September 2018 to say it had received a referral to carry out an assessment of her needs but there was currently a two to four week waiting period for a visit.
12. The Council wrote to Mrs X on 19 September 2018 to arrange to visit her on 21 September 2018. The Council visited Mrs X’s property on 21 September 2018 but she was not in. This is because she was on holiday.
13. The Council visited Mrs X on 5 October 2018 to assess her needs and the layout of her current shower room.
14. The Council sent Mrs X details of contractors and materials for the shower room on 11 October 2019.
15. The Council was due to visit Mrs X on 17 October 2018, but she cancelled this on 16 October 2018.
16. The Council wrote to Mrs X on 31 October 2018 to try to arrange a further visit to her property.
17. The Council paid Mrs X £300 on 8 November 2018. The Council telephoned
    Mrs X on 6 November 2018 to apologise for the delay in making the payment.
18. The Council visited Mrs X’s property on 9 and 12 November 2018 to finalise a schedule of works for her shower.
19. On 27 November 2018 Mrs X confirmed her choice of materials and the Council arranged a number of quotes from contractors to complete the work.
20. The Council received a quote from the preferred contractor on 9 January 2019 and authorised work to go ahead on 25 January 2019. Work began on 11 March 2019 and was finished on 25 March 2019.

My findings

21. The Council failed to carry out an assessment of Mrs X’s shower within two weeks of the Ombudsman’s final decision. The Council was aware of these timescales when we issued our draft decision. If this was not achievable it should have said so. The Ombudsman informed the Council that Mrs X was on holiday for two weeks, but the Council still attempted to visit her property.
22. The Council did not complete its assessment of Mrs X’s needs until 12 November 2018. However, part of the delay was caused by Mrs X being unable to agree to dates for the Council to visit her. Overall there was a 4 week delay in the Council visiting Mrs X to assess her needs and the shower room.
23. Once the Council had carried out the assessment it took four months to complete the work. There were no significant delays in the Council arranging works once the works were agreed and the assessment complete. Therefore, there is no fault by the Council. We recommended the Council complete the works within three months of our final decision. However, we should have allowed the Council more time taking account of the fact it needed to get quotes from contractors.
24. There was also a delay in the Council paying Mrs X the £300 the Ombudsman had recommended. The Council should have paid 24 October 2018. It did not make a payment until 8 November 2018. However, the Council apologised for this at the time. Given the short nature of the delay this is an appropriate response.

Agreed action

25. Following my recommendations the Council has agreed to write to Mrs X to apologise for the delay in visiting her to carry out an assessment of her needs and layout of her shower room.
26. The Council should send this apology to Mrs X within 4 weeks of my final decision.

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Final decision

27. I have completed my investigation as I have found fault causing injustice. The action I have taken is a suitable way to remedy this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman