Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care costs in a residential care home. The Council’s only role is to provide advice and support because the complainant has the funds to pay for their own care and has a power of attorney who can arrange the care. The Ombudsman has no powers to intervene in those privately arranging care paying more than those whose care is arranged by a local authority.

The complaint

1. Ms B complains that when her father (Mr C’s) health declined and she decided he needed to move to a care home, the Council failed to provide the necessary advice and assistance. Ms B then wrote to the Council and it delayed responding. Ms B is uncertain whether she has made the right decisions, and whether the outcomes might have been different. Ms B worries about the cost of the residential care, and that this is depleting the inheritance her parents intended she and her siblings would receive. Ms B questions the practice of private residents subsidising the costs of social care residents.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by someone we consider to be suitable.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended)

3. We have accepted Ms B as a suitable representative for Mr C because she has power of attorney to act for him in relation to his property and finances.
4. 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

7. Mr C’s health declined, and Ms B was struggling to manage with him at home. Ms B decided Mr C needed residential care and arranged his placement in a care home. It is an emotional and challenging time when you must make big decisions about a relatives’ care, and for many it is a new and confusing experience.
8. Ms B contacted the Council. The Council would need to consider if Mr C would qualify for any financial help with the placement, and therefore whether it should arrange Mr C’s placement. The Council explained Mr C had capital over the financial threshold set by government, so would be responsible to arrange and fund his own care. There is nothing to suggest this advice was not correct. Ms B and her sister have power of attorney for Mr C’s property and finances. Therefore, Mr C had people with a duty to manage his affairs, and there was no requirement for the Council to arrange a care placement. Because the Council was not responsible to arrange Mr C’s placement its only role would be to give advice.
9. The Council has apologised for its delay in responding to Ms B’s correspondence about her father’s care and has given Ms B £100 to acknowledge her time and trouble. The Council has met with Ms B to explain the way care fees are calculated, has given her a written explanation, and has offered to provide further information if needed. These actions by the Council are sufficient to acknowledge its delay.
10. Ms B has made decisions on behalf of Mr C to comply with her duties as power of attorney, she now questions whether those decisions were right. There is no indication the advice given by the Council was wrong. It seems accepted Mr C needs residential care and has the funds to pay for it. Though the Council could have done better to support Ms B in her role as power of attorney, there were also other places she could have turned to for support and advice. There is no fault by the Council which would have altered the substantive outcome; that Mr C is in receipt of care which he must pay for.
11. Ms B questions if it is right those privately arranging their care usually pay more than council arranged placements. Care providers are companies who set their own rates. Councils can often get cheaper rates due to purchasing ‘in bulk’. This is not an issue the Ombudsman has any powers over and is not fault of the Council in Mr C’s case. Ms B accepted the Care Provider’s rate and entered a private contract. If she is unhappy with the fees, she can try to renegotiate the rate, or look at whether it is possible to move Mr C to a cheaper care home.
12. The Council confirmed to Ms B in its response to her complaint, that she can contact it for any further advice and guidance on the funding of Mr C’s care if she needs it.

Back to top

Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by investigation.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman