Summary: Ms X complained the Council did not send her Occupational Therapy assessments and closed the case without telling her. She also complained the Council carried out work at her private rented property without the prior knowledge of the homeowner and did not repair damage. Ms X said this caused damage which created health and safety issues. Ms X said this distressed her and her family. There was fault in the way the Council did not send the assessments, did not tell Ms X it closed her case and delayed repairing the damage to her property. This frustrated Ms X. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a financial payment.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council did not send her Occupational Therapy assessments and closed the case without telling her. She also complained the Council carried out work at her private rented property without the prior knowledge of the homeowner and did not repair damage. Ms X said this caused damage which created health and safety issues. Ms X said this distressed her and her family.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a Council’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)
4. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have investigated Ms X’s complaint about the OT assessments and the works to the property.
6. I have not investigated any reference to the suitability of the property or housing allocations as this was covered in a previous Ombudsman investigation.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I read Ms X’s complaint and spoke to her about it on the phone.
8. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
9. Ms 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

Background information

10. Disabled Facilities Grants are provided under the terms of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. Councils have a statutory duty to give grants to disabled people for certain adaptations. Before approving a grant, a council must be satisfied the work is necessary, meets the disabled person’s needs, and is reasonable and practicable.
11. Relevant councils must promote ‘wellbeing’ when carrying out care and support functions. Wellbeing includes the suitability of living accommodation. The Care Act 2014 recognises suitable accommodation as one way of meeting care and support needs. Prevention is critical to the Care Act and home adaptation is an example of secondary prevention.
12. The Council website confirmed the “installation of minor adaptations is dependent on ownership of your property. Haringey Council undertakes work for council and owner-occupied properties. If you live in privately rented accommodation, we require your landlord's permission before we are able to install rails or other minor adaptations. Housing Associations usually undertake minor adaptations for their tenants based on our recommendations”.
13. The Ombudsman previously completed an investigation about Ms X’s housing. The previous investigation considered events until the end of 2023.

What happened

14. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and does not cover everything that has occurred in this case.
15. Ms X lives in a private rented property with her two children who have additional needs. Ms X asked the Council to complete OT assessments for her and one of her children. The Council completed the assessments in October 2023. In the assessments, the Council recorded Ms X lived in a Council property.
16. The Council arranged for a contractor to install some grab rails in the bathroom in October 2023. When the rails were fitted, the contractor damaged the property. Ms X’s landlord, B, confirmed they had not agreed to the work.
17. In May 2024, the contractor confirmed it passed the issue to its insurers to ensure the work was completed for Ms X. B set out they were not happy with this and said it was a small repair and needed completing.
18. Ms X complained in May 2024. She complained the Council did not send her the OT assessments, did not tell her it closed the case, and the Council had not completed repairs.
19. The Council responded to the complaint at the end of May 2024. The Council accepted it did not send the assessments and closed the case without telling Ms X. The Council apologised for this. The Council said it made a mistake about the ownership of the property, thinking it was a Council property and apologised. The Council expected the contractor to repair the work, and it would contact the contractor.
20. Ms X said the Council knew she rented the property. She said the issues with the bathroom had taken eight months to consider.
21. The Council responded at the end of June 2024. The Council apologised for not sending the OT assessments and not telling Ms X it closed her case. The Council admitted its confusion about the contractor’s insurance completing the work. The Council agreed to contact the contractor to ensure it completed the work.
22. Ms X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. Ms X would like the Council to complete the works in the bathroom and make a financial payment.
23. In response to my enquiries the Council stated it misunderstood the issues in this case. The Council confirmed it decided to complete the work, and this was done in November 2024.

My findings

OT assessments

24. The Council did not send Ms X the OT assessments or inform her when it closed the case. The Council has accepted this fault and apologised. This is a suitable remedy for Ms X’s frustration.

Work to the property

25. The Council should have B’s permission before completing any work to Ms X’s home. The Council did not get B’s permission. This is fault.
26. The Council explained the misunderstanding in this case and confirmed it would remedy this fault. When the Council became aware of the issue, it should have acted to resolve the issue within a reasonable timescale.
27. The contractor installed the grab rails and damaged the bathroom in October 2023. The Council completed the repair work in November 2024. 13 months is not a reasonable timescale to repair the damage caused. This is fault that frustrated Ms X.

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Agreed action

28. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused to Ms X by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Ms X for the fault identified in this investigation. This apology should be in accordance with the Ombudsman’s guidance Making an effective apology.
• Pay Ms X £200 as an acknowledgement of the distress caused by the Council fault.
29. The Council should provide evidence of the actions taken to satisfy the recommendations.

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Final decision

30. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault by the Council, which caused injustice to Ms X.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman