Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to make reasonable adjustments to assist him to make an application for support. The Council upheld the complaint, apologised to Mr X and took action to improve its services. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to make the reasonable adjustments he asked for to help him make an application for financial support. This meant he could not provide all the information needed, so the application was refused. He said he could not appeal because the Council said he had to do so in writing, which he was not able to do. He also said the Council did not support him to make a formal complaint. Mr X said the Council’s ongoing failure to make adjustments means he is not able to access its services.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Application for support

5. Mr X made an application for household support. The Council only allows applications to be made online or by telephone. Mr X is only able to manage a ten-minute telephone call because of his disabilities. He said this was not sufficient and he was not given support to provide all the information the Council needed, which led to it refusing his application. In its complaint response, the Council said it had offered to make a further call to complete the application but accepted it should have referred Mr X to its residents’ support team for support and apologised for not doing so. It has since reminded relevant staff about the residents’ support team and improved the information on its website.
6. Mr X said he could not appeal the refusal decision because he could not do so in writing and can only make calls of up to ten minutes. In its complaint response, the Council said a ten-minute call should have been sufficient for him to set out his reasons for appealing but again, acknowledged it should have referred him to is residents’ support team for support with the appeal and apologised for not doing so. It explained the organisation that deals with household support applications on its behalf does not currently offer video calls. However, it has since met with the organisation and agreed service improvements.

Complaints handling

7. Mr X said it was difficult for him to complain because the Council did not agree to a video call for him to do so. In its complaint response, the Council said its contact centre will take complaints by telephone and a ten-minute call is usually sufficient to do this. At stage 2 it arranged a video call for Mr X to discuss his complaint, following which it responded to his concerns in writing.

My assessment

8. In its complaint response, the Council accepted it was at fault for not referring Mr X to is residents’ support team to assist him with his initial application for support and the appeal, and for a delay in responding to his complaint at stage 1 of the complaints process. It apologised and set out the steps it took to improve its services. It confirmed to us that Mr X can make a fresh application. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome so we will not consider the complaint further.
9. Mr X wants video calls as a reasonable adjustment when using Council services. It is appropriate for the Council to consider his request, but it is not required to agree to communicate in the way Mr X wants and can suggest other ways to support him to access its services.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman