Summary: Most of Mr B’s complaint is out of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction as it relates to the actions of the Council as a housing provider and is being investigated by the Housing Ombudsman. I have not found fault with the Council’s actions in assessing Mr B’s needs and recommending adaptations to the property.

The complaint

1. Mr B has a disability and he needs a property that is adapted to his needs. He and his mother, Ms C, rent a house from the Council’s arms-length management organisation (ALMO). Mr B says the ALMO has installed an unsafe bathroom and he has injured himself using the bathroom. He says the ALMO’s proposals to repair the bathroom are illegal and not in line with building regulations. He says the ALMO has not carried out other works which are needed to make the property safe for him to use.
2. He says the Council is failing in its duty to ensure that his needs as a disabled person are met.

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What I have investigated

3. I have investigated the actions of the Council’s social care department in meeting his needs as a person with a disability. Paragraphs 21 to 23 explain why I have not investigated his complaint about the actions of the ALMO.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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)
6. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
7. If we are satisfied with a council’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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How I considered this complaint

8. I have discussed the complaint with Ms C and I have considered the documents that she, Mr B and the Council have sent, the relevant law and guidance and Mr B’s reply to the draft decision.

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What I found

9. Mr B has a disability and uses a wheelchair. Mr B and Mr C moved to their current property in April 2018. The property had a ground floor bedroom and a bathroom and an upstairs bathroom which was accessible by stairlift. Both bathrooms were installed for a previous tenant with disabilities. The ALMO made some changes to the downstairs bathroom to make it more suitable for Mr B’s needs. On 8 May 2018 the occupational therapist (OT) recommended some minor works to the property:
• Grab rails to enable Mr B to transfer on/ off the shower chair or toilet.
• A power socket next to Mr B’s bed in the bedroom downstairs so that he could charge his wheelchair.
• Widening of the doorway from the hallway into a study downstairs.
• Square off an area at the bottom of the garden path to allow Mr B turning space in his wheelchair.
10. Ms C wrote to the Council in June 2018 as she was concerned about the ramp to the garden as Mr B was now using a manual wheelchair.
11. The OT carried out a further assessment on 2 July 2018 and made a housing referral. She said that the property they moved into was sufficient for Mr B to use in his powered wheelchair, but he was now using a self-propelled wheelchair which was wider. She said:
• The access to the garden needed to be improved.
• The grab rails in the shower had come loose as the wall type did not offer enough support. She said this should be reviewed.
• The kitchen surfaces were too high. They should be set at 900 mm high and the kitchen sink should be wheelchair accessible with no cupboard underneath.
• The width of some of the doorways should be increased.
12. The ALMO carried out further works to the downstairs bathroom in September 2018. Mr B contacted the ALMO after the works had been completed. Mr B said he had sustained injuries because of the poor workmanship. He said the works had not been done in line with the building regulations.
13. There was a lot of correspondence between Mr B, Ms C and the ALMO in the following weeks about what further works should be done to the bathroom. The Council sent an email in October 2018 with a list of the works it was proposing. Mr B and Ms C did not agree with the proposed works as they said they were not safe and were not in line with the building regulations.
14. The ALMO wrote to Mr B and Ms C on 15 November 2018 and proposed to instruct an independent surveyor to inspect the bathroom and provide an expert view. However, Mr B and Ms C would not agree to anybody from the Council accompanying the expert on his visit and therefore refused to allow the expert access to their property. To date, the visit has not taken place and the matter has reached a stalemate.

Analysis

15. I have not investigated the actions of the ALMO and therefore this investigation is very limited. Particularly as the works are funded by the housing department and not by a disabled facilities grant.
16. I appreciate Mr B and Ms C are frustrated at the lack of progress, but I can only investigate the Council’s actions in terms of its social care duties. The Care Act says the Council has a duty to assess the needs of a person who may have care needs and a duty to ensure their needs are met.
17. The Council’s adult social care department has appointed an OT who has carried out the appropriate assessments.
18. The assessments included recommendations for the different works that needed to be done to the house to meet Mr B’s needs. The OT made the appropriate referrals and recommendations for the works to the ALMO. Therefore, I have not found fault in the Council’s actions in terms of its social care department.
19. Most of Mr B and Ms C’s complaint relates to how and when the ALMO then carried out the works and how it will carry out further works, but that complaint is being investigated by the Housing Ombudsman.

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Final decision

20. Most of Mr B’s complaint is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. I have completed my investigation.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

21. The Housing Ombudsman investigates complaints about the actions of certain landlords. Local authorities and ALMOs fall under the Housing Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
22. Mr B has made a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman about the ALMO’s building works and the construction of the bathroom. He has also complained about the ALMO’s proposals to do further works.
23. As these complaints relate to the actions of the ALMO as a housing provider, they are outside of the jurisdiction of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman