Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled Mrs Y’s move into residential care. It is unlikely that our involvement would lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not properly handle his family member Mrs Y’s move to residential care. The Council did not take the action it said it would, relating to Mrs Y’s property, tenancy, bills, belongings and financial management. This caused a financial loss for Mr X and Mrs Y, and time and trouble for Mr Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 or may decide not to continue with 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs Y moved into residential care in early 2021, and when her placement became permanent the Council said it would take certain actions. The Council did not terminate Mrs Y’s tenancy and clear the flat of her possessions. It did not deal with her bills. Mrs Y’s flat was broken into, and Mr X says items were taken. Mrs Y built a debt to the care home because the Council had not arranged for her contributions to be paid. On realising the Council had not taken the action it said it would, Mr X says he spent around 150 hours dealing with the issues to get
   Mrs Y’s affairs in order.
6. The Council accepts it was at fault and apologised for delays, inconvenience and the time Mr X spent on this. It has offered financial remedies acknowledging actual material loss, time and effort and distress. The figures amount to over £1,500 for Mrs Y and almost £2,000 for Mr X.
7. Mr X says these figures do not reflect the cost of items taken from Mrs Y’s home, nor the time he spent dealing with matters. The Council explained the figures were gestures in acknowledgement of the impact of its fault, alongside its apology.
8. If we investigated, we would be unlikely to recommend any action significantly different to what the Council has already offered. It is not possible to calculate the value of items that may have been taken from Mrs Y’s home, but the police have rightly been made aware of the thefts. Like the Council, we make recommendations of token payments for time and trouble and distress. We do not award compensation in the way the courts do. We would not expect councils to pay an hourly wage to complainants in such circumstances.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely our involvement would lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman