Summary: Mrs X complains about the Council’s fitting and positioning of a stair lift in her home. She says it is unsafe and not installed in the way she had been led to believe. The Council is not at fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council was at fault for the way in which it installed a stairlift in her home because:

• The stair lift does not go as far as her landing, only reaching one stair below her landing. She says this presents an obstruction.
• The stair lifts tow bars hang out and her grandchildren can get hit when trying to manoeuvre past.
• The Council have tried to save money by installing a stair lift with an insufficient gap between chair and bannister.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. 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

4. I have spoken to the complainant and read her complaint file.
5. I made enquiries with the Council and researched the relevant law.
6. I gave both the complainant and the Council the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

Background

7. Mrs X has difficulty using the stairs. The Council arranged to install a stair lift for her.
8. A lift engineer visited Mrs X’s home and then sent its recommendation to the Council. The company the Council used to assess what stair lift would be most suitable for Mrs X says it has no connection to any single manufacture and recommends the best model for safety, economy and reliability.
9. Mrs X says that before the stair lift was installed, she was told it would go onto the landing, not the top stair.
10. However, when the stair lift was installed, it only went up to the top stair. Mrs X says her daughter caught her leg on the chair trying to get past. The same day Mrs X’s daughter complained about this, the Council arranged a visit.
11. Mrs X also considered the stair lift to be a fire hazard, in the event that someone could trip over it if there was a fire.
12. In discussions with the engineer on 7 May 2019, the Council was told that an overrun onto the landing was not agreed because Mrs X told the engineer she did not want the flooring on the landing drilled into.
13. Following this conversation with the engineer, Council officers, responding to Mrs X’s concerns about the position of the chair, visited her on 13 May 2019. It was agreed that a joint visit with an engineer would be carried out to see if there was a way to alter the installation to allow the chair to finish on the landing.
14. The outcome of that visit was that making changes to the existing model would require the fuse box to be moved. The Council says that the fuse box could be moved. However, it adds that it has been advised by the engineers it uses that the stair lift is the best model for Mrs X’s needs. But moving the fuse box would make the use of that particular model of stair lift inappropriate for Mrs X as it would raise the height of the seat and create difficulties getting on and off.
15. Following our enquiries, the Council asked the engineer company about Mrs X’s understanding that the stair lift could go up to the landing. The engineer said he could only assume Mrs X had misunderstood where the chair would reach as, “…this is a straight stair lift and the rail cannot be extended onto the landing.”
16. The Council has said, in its complaint response to the Ombudsman that it considers it has acted appropriately and professionally, consulting technical expertise as required. It says that if Mrs X should wish, it would facilitate the removal of the stair lift.

Analysis

17. If a person has eligible needs, councils have a legal duty to meet them.
18. In this case the Council assessed Mrs X had an assessed need which would benefit from the use of a stair lift. But the Council is not obliged to provide the particular type of stair lift that Mrs X would prefer. Nor is it the role of the Ombudsman to specify how a person’s assessed needs should be met. This is the role of the Council.
19. I take into consideration that the company the Council used stresses that it has no affiliation with any particular brand of stair lift but recommends the stair lift that it considers is the most appropriate.
20. The stair lift installation company says Mrs X did not want the company to attach mounts for the stair rail into her landing and that was why it did not install a stair lift that reached the landing. Mrs X denies this. The company also says it was not possible to install that type of stair lift onto her landing. I cannot say what Mrs X was or was not told or indeed, what was possible in terms of the type of stair lift that could be installed in Mrs X’s home.
21. I find, however, that the Council was not at fault. Officers visited Mrs X’s home to see if there was any way for the stair lift to reach her landing. The stair lift engineer concluded that to make the alterations that would be necessary, would mean Mrs X could no longer use that type of stair lift. Since that was the type of stair lift considered the most appropriate for Mrs X, the Council felt it could do no more to resolve the situation.
22. Mrs X says the stair lift is a fire risk. She says she is worried that someone might trip over it if there was a fire. I cannot uphold a complaint on this ground. It is too speculative and there is no good evidence that this is the case.
23. Mrs X is also concerned that members of her family could get caught by the stair lift as they move past. I accept what the Council says about other members of the family being able-bodied and therefore able to negotiate the obstacle.
24. I do not find the Council at fault.

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Final decision

25. I have not found the Council at fault. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman