Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to fund her stepmother’s, Mrs C’s, care home fees. This is because it is unlikely he would find enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms B says the Council should fund her stepmother’s, Mrs C’s, out of county placement when her funds fall below the threshold for her to pay the full cost. Ms B says the Council who placed Mrs C should pay her care home fees, not the receiving council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I discussed the concerns with Ms B and considered the information and documentation she provided. I sent Ms B a copy of my draft decision for comment.

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What I found

4. Ms B says the Council should accept responsibility for paying Mrs C’s care fees when she is no longer a full cost client because it placed her out of county at Mrs C’s request. Ms B says the receiving Council said it will only take over responsibility for funding after two years, but Mrs C’s capital will run out before that time.
5. The Care Act 2014 provides guidance on ordinarily residence and funding, this is usually in the area where a person lives. There are exceptions which are explained in the guidance. See below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-statutory-guidance/care-and-support-statutory-guidance#moving-between-areas-inter-local-authority-and-cross-border-issues

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-statutory-guidance/care-and-support-statutory-guidance#AnnexH

6. The Council arranged Mrs C’s care home placement for her in March 2020 and initially contracted with the care home where it placed her to provide her care.
7. The care provider agreed a further contract with Ms B who is Mrs C’s attorney for finances on 14 May 2020. When Mrs C’s finances reach the threshold for paying the full cost, that is £23250, Mrs B should contact the Council in the area where Mrs C is living to complete a financial assessment and assess whether she has capital to contribute towards the cost of her care. The Ombudsman could not say there is any evidence of fault with the Council who arranged and initially contracted the initial placement for refusing the fund her out of county placement in the future when Mrs C no longer has funds to pay the full cost of her care.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely he would find enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman