Summary: Mrs Y complains the Council arranged a supported living placement for her daughter, Miss W, despite the placement being unaffordable for her. We find the Council failed to provide advice to Miss W about possible benefit entitlement before the placement started. This fault caused uncertainty because we do not know whether Miss W would have accepted the placement if she had been given enough information to make an informed decision. The Council has agreed to complete the remedial actions we have listed at the end of this statement.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complains the Council placed her daughter, Miss W, into a supported living placement without first ensuring that it was affordable for her. At the time of moving into the placement, Mrs Y says Miss W did not receive housing benefit and could not afford to pay the weekly rent of £135.
2. Due to the lack of communication and planning, Mrs Y says Miss W’s supported living placement failed which has caused avoidable distress and significant debt from rent arrears.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have not investigated issues relating to Miss W’s tenancy agreement and the consequences of any unpaid rent because this is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. People in supported living have their own tenancy agreement and are responsible for their own rent and bills. Any dispute about this would be between the tenant and the landlord and not with the Council. A tenant could complain to the Housing Ombudsman if the landlord is part of that scheme. Even if the Council was the landlord, the law says we cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)”

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How I considered this complaint

6. During my investigation I discussed Miss W’s complaint with her representative, Mrs Y.
7. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response. I also consulted the relevant law and guidance.
8. Mrs Y and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

What should happen

9. When a person moves into independent or supported living accommodation, they usually sign a tenancy agreement for their own house or flat, paid for by housing benefit if eligibility is met. People have security of tenure and cannot be moved against their will unless the tenancy is breached.
10. The Care Act 2014 sets out a preventative duty for councils. The ‘Care and Support Statutory Guidance’ says, “It is critical to the vision in the Care Act that the care and support system works to actively promote wellbeing and independence and does not just wait to respond when people reach a crisis point”.
11. The guidance sets out what local authorities must do to meet their duties towards adults in their area with care and support needs. The guidance says that “Information and advice is fundamental to enabling people, carers and families to take control of, and make well-informed choices about, their care and support and how they fund it”.
12. The guidance lists the type of information and advice which councils should provide to adults. This includes information about available housing and housing-related support options, advice about benefit eligibility and how to apply for disability benefits and other types of benefits.

What happened

13. Miss W is an adult with care and support needs. On 11 May 2023 the Council assessed Miss W to decide how she could live more independently. The Council decided that Miss W had eligible needs and it requested funding for a supported living placement.
14. Five days later the Council completed a statement of Miss W’s financial circumstances which showed that Miss W received a monthly income of £708.
15. The Council wrote to Miss W on 22 May and confirmed, “Initial financial assessment has been carried out to provide an indication of what you may have to contribute towards the cost of your care. It is likely that you will not be required to pay towards the cost of your Residential Care Service”.
16. One month later a case note shows the Council spoke with Miss W who enquired about a supported living placement. The note says, “she also asked if you could confirm this costs £152 per week please”.
17. Miss W moved to the placement on 17 October 2023.
18. A case note from 30 November confirmed that an officer in the Council’s finance and welfare team gave benefit advice to Miss W’s social worker.
19. On 4 December a social worker noted that, “[Miss W] is refusing to participate in Universal [Credit] process therefore is not paying towards her rent. Currently she is in rent arrears”.
20. Miss W’s social worker spoke to a member of staff at Miss W’s supported living placement on 5 December. The staff member expressed concern about Miss W’s rent arrears. The social worker explained they would work with Mrs Y to try and encourage Miss W to apply for benefits.
21. Later that day the social worker spoke with Mrs Y by telephone. Mrs Y explained that she was unable to complete a housing benefit application for Miss W because Miss W refused to cooperate with the application process. Mrs Y expressed that she would have ensured Miss W had made a housing benefit claim before she moved in, had she known it was necessary.
22. On 6 December Miss W told the Council that she planned to move back to the family home to live with Mrs Y.
23. The Council scheduled a review for Miss W’s placement on 28 December, but Miss W did not attend as she went to work. A case note entered on 29 December shows the social worker spoke with Miss Y about her placement and discussed the need to apply for housing benefit. Miss W said she did not want to talk about benefits.
24. The social worker arrived at Mrs Y’s home to complete a scheduled review on 5 March. The social worker noted that nobody was at home when she arrived. The following day Mrs Y apologised and explained she was out at an appointment.
25. The Council completed a review of Miss W’s care plan on 4 April. This concluded:
• Miss W was living in supported living but was not happy there due to her concerns about paying for the rent.
• Miss W refused to apply for housing benefit and accrued rent arrears.
• Miss W did not have the correct support staff in place, and they did not take the time to develop a relationship with her.
• Miss W was not meeting her personal care needs or maintaining her home.
• Miss W would benefit from Personal Assistant support ten hours each week to help meet her personal care needs and to relieve the pressure on Mrs Y.
26. Mrs Y submitted a formal complaint on Miss W’s behalf and the Council responded in April. It said:
• The Council apologises for any distress Miss W experienced. It recognised the move to supported living was challenging and the rent arrears have added to that stress.
• Adult Social Care is not expected to pay for the accommodation element of someone’s care package. It is expected that Miss W or her representative would apply for the necessary welfare benefits to cover her rent.
• While Miss W does not need to make any financial contribution to her social care, the rental element of the placement was outlined in the tenancy agreement.
• The Council’s benefit team can help Miss W with a housing benefit application.

Was there fault in the Council’s actions causing injustice to Miss W and Mrs Y?

27. In response to our enquiries the Council acknowledged that it first provided Miss W with advice regarding benefits and rent on 30 November 2023. This was around six weeks into Miss W’s placement. The Council said it would expect for this information to be provided prior to the service user moving into supported living. I agree with this because the statutory guidance makes clear that councils must provide information and advice about benefit entitlement to allow service users to make informed choices.
28. The injustice arising from this fault is uncertainty. This is because we do not know whether Miss W would have agreed to move into the placement had she known she would be liable for the full cost of her rent pending a successful award of housing benefit. There is a possibility that Miss W may still have made the unwise decision to proceed with the placement despite this. In my view, because of this we cannot say the rent arrears are a direct consequence of the fault.
29. The Council will take the action I have recommended in the following section of this statement to remedy the uncertainty caused by the fault.

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Agreed action

30. Within one month of the final decision the Council has agreed to:
• apologise to Mrs Y and Miss W for the uncertainty caused by failing to provide preventative advice and support with her housing benefit before she moved into the supported living placement. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended.
• pay £350 to Mrs Y. This is in recognition of the uncertainty caused by the Council’s failures.
31. Within three months of the final decision the Council will also remind staff (either through a team meeting, a briefing paper or staff circular) about the preventative duty and the need to refer service users for benefit advice when necessary.
32. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

33. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault causing injustice for the reasons explained in this statement. The actions listed in the section above will provide a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman