Further to the events covered by this complaint the Council had begun a review of its adult safeguarding procedures. It agreed that it would update us on what consideration this review gave to the time taken to complete adult safeguarding enquiries. It would also share any recommendations arising from that review designed to reduce or avoid delays in completing such enquiries, such as were present in this case (where enquiries took more than 12 months to complete).The Council also agreed to incorporate into that review, or undertake a separate piece of work, on its current arrangements for communicating with relatives when it undertakes safeguarding enquiries. It would review current advice given to practitioners and if this was sufficiently robust as to its expectations, and consider if it needed to brief them further on its expectations in this area. This followed a failure by the Council to inform the complainant in this case of the outcome of its enquiries, despite involving them in the initial stages of its investigation.The Council agreed that its contracting team would review any placements currently open for users of services at a named care home, to check the safety and suitability of their care. In particular, if any of those users required mouth care or feeding via a PEG tube, after investigation revealed significant failings in the care the complainant's father received in meeting those needs.

The Council was at fault because it took 10 months to issue a Deferred Payment Agreement. It will review the time taken from the Deferred Payment Agreement request to issuing the Agreement contract to determine what caused delays and what action can be taken to reduce such delays in future.

The Housing team and Adult Social Care team should clarify what supporting evidence applicants need from Adult Social Care Services when asking the Council for an additional bedroom as per the allocations policy, and how applicants can go about obtaining this.

Remind staff of the Ombudsman’s principles of good administrative practice, specifically, the importance of retaining appropriate records to show the Council’s rationale for its decisions.Remind staff of the statutory guidance which says councils should review care and support plans at least every 12 months, and the importance of adhering to this timeframe.Remind staff that where somebody provides or intends to provide care for another adult, and it appears the carer may have any needs for support, the Council must carry out a carer’s assessment.