Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about an adult social care and financial assessment. Since making the complaint, the Council has met with Ms X, amended the assessment based on her comments and increased the amount of support she receives. There is insufficient evidence of fault or resulting significant injustice to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Ms Y has made this complaint to us on behalf of Ms X. Ms X was unhappy with the Council’s decision to exclude some items as Disability Related Expenditure (DRE) when it completed a financial assessment to determine her contribution costs to her care. Ms Y said the Council ignored Ms X’s her complaints and requests to correct inaccurate information in the assessment. Ms X wants the Council to amend the records it holds for her and to reconsider its DRE and charging decision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)
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
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (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 provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We do not investigate all complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged fault and the injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
7. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint about its care and financial assessments in early July 2024. It offered to meet with Ms X and her father, who had been providing some support to her. Ms Y brought Ms X’s complaint to us in late October 2024 because Ms X said the Council had been ignoring her ongoing concerns.
8. The Council met with Ms X and her father in November 2024. They discussed the content of Ms X’s assessment and made amendments based on her comments. The revised assessment was shared with Ms X shortly after the meeting. The Council has also since reviewed Ms X’s care plan and increased the level of support she receives. It has also completed a further financial assessment and included some of the items Ms X requested as DRE.
9. There is limited evidence of fault to justify our involvement. The Council does not appear to have ignored Ms X’s requests and has met with her since her complaint to us. The action the Council has taken to amend its records and increase the support Ms X receives appears to address the concerns Ms Y has brought to us. The Council has said it will review the existing support Ms X receives in April 2025, and this will be the point when Ms X can discuss any other issues she may have with her support and financial contributions.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman