Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council (24 012 800)
Category : Adult care services > Assessment and care plan
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Feb 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care support. The Council is still assessing the complainant’s need for support so there is nothing further the Ombudsman could achieve.
The complaint
- Mr B says the Council did not properly explain its decision that he was not eligible for adult social care support.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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:
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
- there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council completed a telephone assessment with Mr B and decided not to offer him any adult social care support. Mr B could not understand the Council’s decision.
- Since then, the Council has met twice with Mr B and is continuing to assess any support he might need.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because the Council is still assessing his needs. There is nothing further the Ombudsman could achieve. If Mr B is not happy when the Council has finished its assessment he should complain to the Council and could then come back to the Ombudsman with a new complaint if the Council does not resolve his concerns.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman