Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how Mrs x was treated by the Council during its decision to end direct payments. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about how she was treated by the Council during its decision to end the direct payments of an individual, Mr A, who she supports under a Shared Lives scheme. She also complains the Council failed to seek the views of Mr A.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. 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 an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X supports an individual, Mr A, under a Shared Lives scheme. In 2019, the Council stopped Mr A’s direct payments and instead directly commissioned care services to meet Mr A’s care needs. The Council also planned to apply to be Mr A’s financial deputy so that it could manage his finances.
8. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s decision and so complained about the matter through her MP in 2020. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint and explained its reasons for why the direct payment was ended. Mrs X continued to correspond with the Council on the matter in 2021 and 2022. The Council signposted Mrs X to the Ombudsman in November 2021.
9. We will not investigate this complaint as the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for why Mrs X was not able to bring her complaint to us earlier. This is because it is clear Mrs X was aware of her concerns about the Council’s decision in 2020. In addition, the Council signposted Mrs X to us in 2021. It was therefore reasonable to expect Mrs X to have brought the complaint to us to consider then.
10. In any case, even if we were to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint, we would not investigate. This is because an investigation would not lead to any worthwhile outcomes as the Council has already provided its reasons for why it ended the direct payments. Additionally, even though there potentially could be fault in the Council not appropriately seeking the views of Mr A at the beginning, this did not cause any significant injustice. This is because Mr A was appointed an advocate to help him articulate his wishes and Mr A’s sister was appointed his financial deputy.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman