Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council administers personal budgets for short breaks. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council paid her child’s short break personal budget on a different day each year. She said that led to difficulty in budgeting for and planning activities.
2. She also complained about the Council’s decision to remove any unspent money from the previous year’s allowance on the 1 April. She said the Council should leave that money in the pre-paid account to cover the period until the next payment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. In its complaint response the Council explained that because of the number of personal budgets it allocates, it was not possible to pay all of these before the Easter Holidays. However, it said it had introduced a new system to ensure that all those eligible would be paid by the end of April.
7. Although Mrs X is unhappy with the Council’s complaint response, we will not investigate this complaint. The Council explained the reason for the short delay. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.
8. The Council also explained its decision to recover unspent personal budgets at the start of the financial year was made in accordance with its policy on excess funds. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman