Summary: The Council delayed taking steps to explore suitable supported living accommodation for Mr and Mrs B in their preferred location. It also delayed initiating the continuity of care process. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to Mr and Mrs B. It has also agreed to make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Mr X, acting on behalf of Mr and Mrs B, complains the Council failed to follow the correct procedures after they said they wanted to move to supported living accommodation in another council area, which I will refer to as Area S.
2. Mr X says the Council delayed making a formal referral to Council S, which affected their plan to move to live closer to family. He says the delay and poor handling caused them avoidable frustration, uncertainty and distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
5. 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(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have not investigated events since September 2025, when Mr X brought his complaint to us, or matters which occurred before September 2024 for the reasons explained in paragraph three.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mr X and the Council have had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Care and support needs assessment and planning

9. Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 require councils to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve.
10. The Care Act 2014 gives councils a legal responsibility to provide a care and support plan. The plan should consider what needs the person has and how they will be met and should link back to the outcomes the adult wishes to achieve.
11. Where the care planning process has determined that a person’s needs are best met in supported living, the council must provide for the person’s preferred choice of accommodation, subject to certain conditions.

Continuity of care

12. Section 20 of the statutory guidance sets out the process councils must follow when a person intends to move to another council area, to ensure their care and support continues without disruption.
13. If a person has approached their council and informed it of their intention to move, it should make contact with the second council to tell them that the person is planning on moving to their area.
14. When the second council is satisfied that the person’s intentions to move are genuine, it must inform the first council, and it must provide the adult with information about the care and support available in its area.
15. When the first council has been notified by the second council that it is satisfied that the person’s intention to move is genuine, the first council must provide the second council with a copy of the person’s most recent care and support plan.
16. The second council must contact the adult to carry out an assessment and to discuss how arrangements might be made.

Background and key events

17. Mr and Mrs B live in their own home and both have significant care and support needs. They receive direct payments and employ personal assistants to help meet those needs.
18. The Council began a review of Mr B’s care and support needs in August 2024, which was completed in September 2024. It concluded that Mr B’s eligible needs could continue to be met through the existing direct payment arrangements with personal assistants, or by a live-in carer, or by moving into supported living accommodation.
19. The assessment also recorded that Mr B wished to move to Area S and noted that a referral had been made to the supported living team to explore whether accommodation could be sourced there.
20. During a subsequent home visit, Mr B told the supported living team he would consider supported living accommodation within the Council’s area, but only if it had links to Area S, which remained his preferred destination.
21. In October 2024, Mr X informed the Council that Mr and Mrs B wanted their eligible needs to be met through supported living accommodation in Area S.
22. In December 2024, Mr X made a formal complaint. He referred to the Care Act 2014 and accompanying statutory guidance, which states that where a council is responsible for meeting a person’s eligible care and support needs, and those needs require a particular type of accommodation, the council must not limit choices to settings within its own geographical area or to providers with which it already contracts. He said that if a person chooses accommodation outside the council’s area, the council remains responsible for arranging their preferred care and support.
23. In its January 2025 complaint response, the Council said that the review of Mr B’s needs had not identified that he required supported living accommodation. It said Mr B remained supported through a direct payment care package and that it had provided advice about how he could apply to Council S to request support with housing.
24. The Council also said Mr B had not expressed a wish to pursue supported living accommodation in Area S and had instead been offered support to explore supported living accommodation within the Council's own area, which he had declined. It said that if Mr B decided to move into supported living accommodation in Area S, it would endeavour to support this where possible.
25. The Council then contacted Council S’s commissioning service to seek advice about potential supported living provision in Area S.
26. Mr X remained dissatisfied and escalated his complaint. He said the 2024 review confirmed that one way of meeting Mr and Mrs B’s needs would be through supported living accommodation. He said he had made it clear in his letter of 29 October 2024 that, having considered the available options, Mr and Mrs B wished to move to supported living accommodation in Area S and wanted the Council to facilitate this.
27. In the Council’s response, it said that it was actively working to facilitate the proposed move and was trying to identify suitable placements for Mr and Mrs B within Area S, but could not progress matters further until a suitable placement was identified. The Council also said that although it would continue liaising with Council S, progress depended on factors outside its control, including housing availability, priority status, and Council S’s own eligibility assessments.
28. In June 2025, Mr X wrote to the Council again. He referred to the Care Act provisions relating to continuity of care and asked the Council to follow the correct statutory process and contact Council S’s Adult Social Care team.
29. In August 2025, the Council made a formal referral to Council S. It said it had not previously done so because there had been no confirmed destination or agreed accommodation type. The Council said Mr and Mrs B had continued to explore both supported living options and general needs housing.
30. The Council also said it had already been in contact with Council S’s housing and commissioning teams to explore supported living availability to support the couple’s preferences. It said that it would continue to liaise with Council S to ensure continuity of care.
31. Mr and Mrs B remained dissatisfied and complained to the Ombudsman in September 2025.
32. In June 2026, Mr and Mrs B moved to Area S after securing their own tenancy.

Analysis

33. The assessment completed in September 2024 did not conclude that supported living accommodation was the best way to meet Mr B's eligible needs. Instead, the Council identified several possible ways of meeting his needs, including continuing with direct payments, using a live-in carer, or moving to supported living accommodation.
34. However, councils must still have regard to a person's wishes and preferences when carrying out care planning. The evidence shows that by October 2024 Mr and Mrs B had clearly expressed a preference to move to supported living accommodation in Area S so they could be closer to family. The Council was therefore required to consider their preference and take timely steps to explore whether to meet their needs in this way. The evidence shows the Council did not start to do so until January 2025, around three months after Mr and Mrs B had clearly communicated their preferred option. This delay was fault.
35. When the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint in January 2025, it wrongly stated that Mr and Mrs B had not expressed a wish to pursue supported living accommodation in Area S. While Mr and Mrs B had considered other options, they had made their preference clear.
36. I am satisfied that the Council tried to identify a suitable placement in Area S between January and June 2025. The records show that the Council contacted Council S’s commissioning service and made enquiries with supported living providers. However, these enquiries did not identify suitable and available accommodation.
37. I have also considered the Council's actions under the continuity of care provisions.
38. The evidence shows the Council was aware that Mr and Mrs B wanted to move to Area S and by October 2024, they had clearly stated that supported living accommodation in Area S was their preferred option. Although no specific accommodation had been identified and there remained uncertainty about whether the move would proceed, Mr and Mrs B had clearly communicated their intention to move to Area S. The Council therefore should have contacted Council S and initiated the continuity of care process. It did not do so until August 2025. This delay was fault.
39. I have considered whether this fault caused any significant injustice.
40. An earlier referral would not have required Council S to secure accommodation on behalf of Mr and Mrs B. However, had the referral been made sooner, it is likely that Council S would have provided information about services available in its area, carried out its own assessment and considered how any eligible needs would be met if the move took place. I do not consider there is sufficient evidence to conclude that an earlier referral would have resulted in suitable supported living accommodation being identified sooner.
41. This is because the Council had already been making enquiries about supported living provision in Area S and had been unable to identify a suitable placement. Also, no suitable supported living placement has been identified since the formal referral was made.
42. However, the inaccurate information provided in the January 2025 complaint response and the delay in initiating the continuity of care process caused Mr and Mrs B avoidable frustration and confusion about the respective responsibilities of the two councils. The delay also caused uncertainty because Mr and Mrs B cannot now know whether earlier involvement from Council S might have helped progress planning for their proposed move sooner.

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Action

43. The Council will take the following actions within four weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mr and Mrs B for the failings identified in this case. 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 when making the apology.
• Make a symbolic payment of £250 to recognise the frustration, uncertainty and avoidable time and trouble caused by the faults.
44. The Council will take the following action within eight weeks of my final decision:
• Remind relevant Adult Social Care staff of the Care Act continuity of care requirements when a person expresses an intention to move to another council area.
45. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

46. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mr and Mrs B’s complaint. There was fault which caused injustice. The action the Council has agreed to take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman