Summary: Ms F complained on behalf of her grandson that the Council failed to plan his transition from children’s to adults’ services, causing delay in assessment and failure to provide a taxi to school. There was fault in transition planning but this did not cause injustice. The Council failed to book school transport for three days but has now funded this, which remedies the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms F complains on behalf of her grandson, Mr B, that the Council:
• Failed to plan his transition from children’s to adults’ services, causing delay in assessment and failure to provide a taxi to school.
• Refused to provide him with an adult social worker or care and support.
• Has not been transparent about why care and support was refused.
• Does not have a clear or transparent pathway for children moving to adult services.
2. She says this has affected Mr B’s behaviour and caused stress to herself and the family.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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

5. I spoke to Ms F about the complaint and considered the information she sent, the Council’s response to my enquiries and:
• The Care and Support Statutory Guidance 2014 (“the Guidance”)
• The Care and Support (Eligibility Criteria) Regulations 2014 (“the Regulations”)
• The SEND Code of Practice (“the Code”)
6. Ms F and the Council had an opportunity to comment on two draft decisions. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Transition from children’s to adults’ social care services

7. When a child reaches 18 years of age, they are legally an adult and responsibility for meeting their needs moves from the council’s children’s services to its adults’ services. The legal basis for assessing their needs changes from the Children Act 1989 to the Care Act 2014. However, councils can decide to treat a children’s assessment as an adult assessment and can also carry out joint assessments.
8. The Care Act 2014 says councils must carry out a social care needs “transition” assessment where there is likely to be a need for care and support after the young person turns 18. There is no set age to carry this out but the intention is that it is done to determine what services the child will need when they turn 18. The Guidance says transition assessments should begin when the council can be reasonably confident about what the young person’s needs for care and support will look like when they turn 18. The child does not need to be receiving children’s services to have a transition assessment.
9. The assessment must identify all the young person’s needs for care and support and identify the outcomes the young person wishes to achieve. The assessment must be person-centred, proportionate and involve any carer that the adult has, or any other person the individual might want involved.

The Council’s policy

10. The Council has a preparing for adulthood transition guide which says a transition assessment will usually be completed when a person with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan is 17. Referrals to the Council’s social care transitions service can be made by the young person, their parent or carer, social care worker, education provider or other health or social care worker. Consent from the young person is required. A preliminary assessment is carried out by the Council’s “First Contact” team to determine if a full transition assessment is required.
11. In addition, the Council follows the Code which says preparation for adulthood must form part of the EHC Plan annual review discussions from year 9 onwards.

Care and support

12. The Regulations set out the eligibility threshold for adults with care and support needs and their carers. The threshold is based on identifying how a person’s needs affect their ability to achieve relevant outcomes, and how this impacts on their wellbeing. To have needs which are eligible for support, the following must apply:
• The needs must arise from or be related to a physical or mental impairment or illness.
• Because of the needs, the adult must be unable to achieve two or more of the following:
1. Managing and maintaining nutrition;
2. Maintaining personal hygiene;
3. Managing toilet needs;
4. Being appropriately clothed;
5. Being able to make use of the adult’s home safely;
6. Maintaining a habitable home environment;
7. Developing and maintaining family or other personal relationships;
8. Accessing and engaging in work, training, education or volunteering;
9. Making use of necessary facilities or services in the local community including public transport, and recreational facilities or services; and
10. Carrying out any caring responsibilities the adult has for a child.
• Because of not achieving these outcomes, there is likely to be, a significant impact on the adult’s well-being.
13. Being “unable to achieve” an outcome includes: needing help to achieve it; experiencing significant pain, distress or anxiety when achieving it; endangering health or safety when achieving it; and taking too long to achieve it.
14. If, following the assessment, the local authority determines that a person has any eligible needs, they must meet these needs and create a care and support plan and produce a personal budget. When a local authority has decided a person is or is not eligible for support it must provide the person with a copy of its decision.

What happened

15. Mr B has ADHD, special educational needs and social, educational and mental health needs. He had a child in need plan and an EHC plan and was attending a specialist school. He turned 18 years old in February 2023.
16. Mr B’s children’s social worker made a referral to the transitions service. She then spoke to the transitions service on 13 January 2023. The transitions service advised that, having reviewed Mr B’s most recent assessment, his primary need was adult mental health support and he would not be eligible for adult care and support. I have seen no evidence a preliminary transition assessment had been done.
17. There was an annual review of Mr B’s EHC plan on 18 January 2023. The report of this in the planning for adulthood discussions says that Mr B had “been referred to [adult social care] but has not met the criteria. This will be appealed.” Mr B’s children’s social worker then made a further referral to the transitions service on 21 February.
18. Ms F emailed the Council in March asking why Mr B had been refused a social worker and what support there would be for him. She said there should be a clear pathway for families as transition was a complex process.
19. A care manager called Mr B on 11 April to carry out a preliminary assessment. This found Mr B did not need support to achieve two of the outcomes set out in paragraph 12 above. Mr B therefore would not need adult care and support and a full transition assessment was not required. The manager told Ms F that Mr B was not eligible for care and support. The care manager referred Mr B to the Council’s education and skills service for support with apprenticeships and courses after he left school that summer.
20. Ms F complained to the Council on 14 April that she had just found out that Mr B’s school transport had been cancelled and was not in place for the summer term. She also complained about the decision that he was not eligible for care and support. Ms F said it had not been explained why Mr B was not eligible, in particular as he had a child in need plan. She said there was no clarity or transparency on who qualified for adult social care support, and there should be a process map for transitioning from children’s social care to adult social care. Ms F said there was confusion and poor communication.
21. Mr B’s father arranged transport with the school transport taxi company for three days in April as it was not in place, but the taxi driver asked him to fund this.
22. Ms F complained to the Council again on 19 April as she had had no response. The Council re-instated Mr B’s school transport on 24 April.
23. The Council met Ms F on 22 May to discuss her complaints. It then sent her its transition guide and a pathway in relation to mental health referrals. An officer called Ms F and the taxi company on 2 June to clarify the transport situation.
24. The Council responded to Ms F’s complaint on 15 June. It said the Council’s booking for school transport for Mr B had expired on 30 March. This was because Mr B had turned 18 and the taxi was no longer funded by children’s social care. The booking had transferred to the SEND service but there had been a delay in processing this. The Council had now paid for the taxi for the three days in April.
25. The Council said that whilst Mr B was not eligible for care and support, he was being supported by a mentoring/befriending service and by other teams to help him with independent living skills and to become ready for work. The Council’s transition guide had been co-produced with its parent carer forum.
26. Ms F came to the Ombudsman. Mr B started a supported internship in September.

My findings

27. Councils must carry out transition assessments if a young person is likely to need adult care and support after they turn 18. To determine this, the Council carries out preliminary assessments. The Guidance has no set timescale for transition assessments, but the Council aims to do them when the young person is 17. I would therefore expect the Council to carry out a preliminary assessment before the person turned 18.
28. Whilst the Council says there was a discussion between Mr B’s social worker and the transitions service in January 2023, just before his annual review, I have seen no evindec a preliminary assessment was done or that Mr B was spoken to by the transitions service. This was fault as the preliminary assessment was not done until after Mr B was 18. However, this did not cause him any injustice as he was found not to be eligible, so he did not miss out on any support.
29. Ms F complains it was not transparent why Mr B was not eligible for care and support. The Regulations set out the eligibility criteria. The Council’s transition guide, which was sent to Ms F, says that the national eligibility criteria apply. The care manager called Ms F to explain the decision on 11 April. I therefore do not find fault.
30. The Council’s transition guide, which is available from its website and was sent to Ms F, sets out the process and pathway for transferring from children’s to adults’ services. I therefore do not find fault.
31. It is not the Ombudsman's role to decide what, if any, care and support a person needs. That is the council's role. My role is to consider if the Council has followed the correct process for establishing a person's needs and if it acted correctly when this process was complete. In doing so we look at what information the council considered, and if it took account of the service user’s wishes. If a council considers all this information properly I cannot find a council at fault just because a service user disagrees with the outcome of an assessment.
32. I have considered the preliminary assessment of 11 April. This shows that the care manager spoke to Mr B and determined he did not need support to achieve the outcomes. I appreciate Ms F disagrees with this decision, but I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the assessment was carried out. I therefore cannot question the decision.
33. There was fault by the Council when it failed to transfer the school transport booking on time, causing confusion about the funding of the taxi for three days. The Council has now paid for this and I am satisfied this remedies the injustice caused.

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Final decision

34. There was fault by the Council. I am satisfied the Council has already taken action to remedy the injustice caused. I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman