Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about her being unpaid for delivering respite care to a disabled child. It is unlikely we would find the Council had any duty to pay Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council has failed to pay her for providing respite care for a disabled child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 investigating; or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X says, in the summer of 2024, she and her family provided overnight respite care for a disabled child (Z). She says the Council did not pay her for this.
6. In reply to her complaint about this, in May 2025 the Council said Z’s parents employed Mrs X not the Council. It says the Council gave Z’s parents a budget for them to buy services via direct payments.

Analysis

7. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint as it is unlikely we will find she has been caused the injustice she claims by direct Council fault. It had no duty to pay her. There was no direct relationship between the Council and Mrs X.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we are unlikely to say her claimed injustice is directly because of the Council’s fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman