Summary: We have discontinued our investigation into Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s social care assessment. The Council has already accepted that she suffered some injustice, and has addressed it. There is not enough evidence of wider fault to justify further investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains that the Council failed to conduct a timely assessment of her needs, despite multiple requests to do so from several professionals (including those working for the Council).
2. Ms X says these delays have led to her having unmet social care needs for over a year. She says this has caused her distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the council, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Ms X and the Council. Both 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

5. In responding to Ms X’s complaint in April 2024, the Council accepted that it had been responsible for delays and poor communication. It offered a suitable remedy for her injustice, which she accepted. There is nothing I could add by reinvestigating what happened before April.
6. However, Ms X says that, since then, there have continued to be delays. At the point of complaining to us in August, she said there had still been no assessment of her needs.
7. The Council’s records do not support Ms X’s complaint. An assessment was completed in April and Ms X refused social care support.
8. This means there is no evidence of assessment delay.
9. The Council did fail to send out a copy of that assessment, which likely explains Ms X’s complaint to us. But the Council has already apologised for this. This was an adequate remedy for her injustice.
10. Since then, the Council has done another assessment, with the same result: Ms X is eligible for social care support, but she does not want it. She says she really needs a ground floor property, which is not something for which the Council’s social care team is responsible.
11. As the Council has already addressed the injustice Ms X experienced, and as I have seen no obvious signs of wider fault, further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome for Ms X.

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Final decision

12. I have discontinued my investigation.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman