Summary: Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her family’s request in January 2022 for support to move her brother, Mr Y, into a permanent residential placement. The Council was at fault for failing to make any meaningful progress with Mr Y’s case for over two years. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr Y’s family for significant uncertainty, distress and frustration caused. The Council will also review its procedure to ensure such delays to no recur.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her family’s request for support for her brother, Mr Y. Miss X says the Council has failed to arrange permanent residential care for Mr Y, despite her parents requesting this since January 2022. Mr Y has remained in a respite placement since September 2022. The Council has failed to allocate a social worker to Mr Y and has not provided his family with information or advice about his care and support place now he can no longer live with his parents. Miss X and her parents are concerns about Mr Y’s wellbeing. They are also worried about the impact of moving Mr Y to another residential placement. Miss X and her parents would like a meeting with the Council, so they can discuss Mr Y’s ongoing care and ask the Council questions about his care and support.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We may investigate complaints from the person affected by the complaint issues, or from someone else if they have given their consent. If the person affected cannot give their consent, we may investigate a complaint from a person we decide is a suitable representative. (Section 26A or 34C, Local Government Act 1974)
3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), 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 have spoken with Miss X, who is acting on behalf of Mr Y and their family. I have also considered the information the Council has provided in response to my enquiries.
6. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant guidance

7. The Care Act 2014 gives councils a legal responsibility to provide a care and support plan (or a support plan for a carer). The care and support plan should consider what needs the person has, what they want to achieve, what they can do by themselves or with existing support and what care and support may be available in the local area. When preparing a care and support plan the council must involve any carer the adult has. The support plan must include a personal budget, which is the money the council has worked out it will cost to arrange the necessary care and support for that person.
8. Section 27 of the Care Act 2014 says councils should keep care and support plans under review. Government Care and Support Statutory Guidance says councils should review plans at least every 12 months. Councils should consider a light touch review six to eight weeks after agreeing and signing off the plan and personal budget. They should carry out reviews as quickly as is reasonably practicable in a timely manner proportionate to the needs to be met. Councils must also conduct a review if an adult or a person acting on the adult’s behalf makes a reasonable request for one.

What happened

9. Mr Y is an adult with learning difficulties. Until September 2022, Mr Y lived with his parents and his mother (Mrs Z) was his main carer.
10. On 18 January 2022, Mrs Z emailed the Council to ask it to arrange a permanent residential placement for Mr Y. Mrs Z explained she and her husband could no longer manage caring for Mr Y. Mrs Z also advised the Council she and her husband were travelling abroad later in the year and needed the Council to ensure a residential placement was secured for Mr Y before then to help him make a smooth transition from their care.
11. From the beginning of March to mid-August 2022, Mrs Z and Miss X made repeated contact with the Council ask if Mr Y’s assessment had been progressed and whether his case had been allocated to a Social Worker. In late July 2022, Mrs X informed the Council that she and her husband would be abroad from 15 September to 18 November 2022. She asked the Council to ensure Mr Y had his usual respite placement during this period. The Council advised Mrs Z that Mr Y’s budget for respite would not cover the full period requested.
12. The Council allocated a Social Worker to Mr Y’s case on 19 August 2022. They arranged for Mr Y’s respite placement at his family’s preferred provider (Company B) to start from 15 September 2022. Mr Y has remained at this placement since then.
13. In late September 2022, Miss X asked the Council for an update on its progress with identifying a long-term placement for Mr Y. In early November 2022, the allocated Social Worker left their post with the Council. Miss X asked the Council when a new Social Worker would be allocated to Mr Y’s case in mid-December 2022. Miss X also made a complaint to the Council about the delay in progressing Mr Y’s case.
14. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint on 24 January 2023. It apologised for the delay in responding. It also said it would try to allocate a new Social Worker in four weeks or when one became available. The Council explained issues with recruitment and increased work meant it was not able to allocate cases as quickly as it would like.
15. At the end of March 2023, Mrs X contacted the Council to advise it Company B had threatened to end Mr Y’s placement as it had not received payment for his care from the Council. Shortly after this in early April 2023, the Council appears to have started an assessment of Mr Y and the measures needed to keep him safe in the community.
16. On 15 May 2023, Mrs Z contacted the Council the chase progress on Mr Y’s case and to inform it that she and her husband would be travelling abroad again in August 2023. Mrs Z and Miss X contact the Council three further times to chase progress.
17. Miss X eventually brings her complaint to us in late July 2023 due to the significant delays in the Council progressing her brother’s case.
18. I understand from enquiries with the Council and Miss X that a new Social Worker was allocated to Mr Y in January 2024. Miss X reports this Social Worker is now regularly engaging with Mr Y’s family to secure a permanent residential placement.

Analysis

19. In response to my enquiries, the Council has not a satisfactory explanation for the significant delays in progressing Mr Y’s case. Mr Y’s family have contacted the Council over 20 times since their initial request for a permanent placement in January 2022. The case records shared with me show little if any evidence of the Council responding to Miss X and Mrs Z’s repeated requests for progress updates. This is unacceptable and the Council’s fault has caused significant uncertainty and distress to Mr Y’s family.
20. Mr Y’s family’s injustice has been further exacerbated by the threat of his placement ending with Company B due to non-payment of care fees by the Council. There are also records which appear to show a similar risk arose with Mr Y’s day centre placement due to non-payment of fees by the Council. Such issues caused further unnecessary worry to Mr Y’s family.
21. To date, the Council has still not identified a permanent long-term residential placement for Mr Y. It is however positive to hear from Miss X that the recently allocated Social Worker is proactive and is in regular communication with Mrs Z about Mr Y’s case. While Mr Y appears settled in his current placement with Company B, the lack of certainty about this causes further worry for Mr Y’s family about how well he would cope with being transferred elsewhere.

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Agreed action

22. Within 1 month of my final decision, the Council agrees to:

• make a written apology to Miss X and Mrs Z for the distress, uncertainty, time and trouble caused by its significant delays in progressing Mr Y’s reassessment; and,
• make a payment of £750 to Mr Y’s family for the injustice caused by the Council’s significant delay in progressing Mr Y’s reassessment.

23. Within three months of my final decision, the Council will review procedures to ensure the significant delays experienced by Mr Y’s family in allocating a social worker, carrying out a review of his care and support plan and identifying a new permanent residential placement do not recur. The Council has agreed to explain to the Ombudsman the action it has taken to improve its practice in this area.
24. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

25. I have completed my investigation and uphold Miss X’s complaint. Mr Y’s family were caused injustice by the actions of the Council and it has agreed to take action to remedy that injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman