Summary: Mr X complains the Council has failed to meet his care and support needs and, despite agreeing to reassess them in January 2024, it has failed to do so. The Council has delayed in reassessing Mr X’s needs. It needs to reassess his need for care and support under the Care Act 2014 without further delay.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complains the Council has failed to meet his care and support needs and, despite agreeing to reassess them in January 2024, it has failed to do so.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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, sections 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mr X;
• discussed the complaint with Mr X;
• considered information the Council has provided;
• considered the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies; and
• invited comments on a draft of this statement from Mr X and the Council, for me to consider before making my final decision.

Back to top

What I found

What happened

5. Mr X has disabilities which affect his hearing, sight and mobility. The Council last assessed his needs under the Care Act 2014 in December 2022. It agreed to fund repairs to a stairlift in Mr X’s home, if he arranged for the supplier to carry out the repairs, but this has not happened. It also agreed to provide support with decluttering Mr X’s home. It provided support for a few months, but it ended last year and the home remains cluttered.
6. Since then Mr X has raised several other concerns, including the need to replace a ramp to his home, which makes it difficult for him to get out and has resulted in damage to the threshold. Mr X says the Council is also failing to meet his communication needs, which arise from his disabilities. He says Council does not share information with all its service areas about his communication needs.
7. In January 2024 the Council told us it was addressing Mr X’s concerns through “regular solution focussed discussions”.
8. On 10 January Mr X’s GP referred him to the Council for an assessment under the Care Act 2014.
9. On 15 January Healthwatch Blackpool referred Mr X to the Council for a social care assessment. The Council contacted Mr X, who said two officers would be visiting him at the end of the month. They agreed to leave it for the two officers to take further action.
10. After the two officers visited Mr X on 31 January, one of them e-mailed to confirm they would refer him for a social care assessment.
11. At the end of February a council officer referred Mr S for an assessment under the Care Act 2014.
12. Mr X says the Council has not contacted him about reassessing his needs.

Is there evidence of fault by the Council which caused injustice?

13. The Care and support statutory guidance says councils should review people’s needs at least every 12 months. The Council should have reviewed Mr X’s needs by December 2023. The delay in doing so has caused distress to Mr X. The Council needs to reassess his care and support needs without further delay.
14. Our published guidance Equal access: getting it right for people with disabilities, says:
• “We would not necessarily expect a large public body which delivers many different services to have a central record of reasonable adjustments agreed. customer service systems and records for different service areas are not always centralised. However, where different service areas are communicating about the same service user they should also share details of any reasonable adjustments that have been agreed.”
15. The Council needs to take steps to ensure information about Mr X’s communication needs is shared between its service areas which need to communicate with him.

Back to top

Agreed action

16. I recommended the Council within four weeks:
• reassesses Mr X’s needs under the Care Act 2014; and
• takes action to ensure the service areas which need to communicate with Mr X are aware of his communication needs.
17. The Council has agreed to do this. It should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Final decision

18. I have completed my investigation on the basis there has been fault by the Council causing injustice which requires a remedy.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman