Durham County Council (22 014 052)

Statement Upheld Charging 11-Apr-2023

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council failed to deal properly with the charges for her mother’s care, resulting in it asking her to pay a bill she cannot afford to pay. The Council accepts it was at fault over the long delay in charging her mother for her care. It has offered to waive £500 of the outstanding charges and to agree a repayment plan for the remainder. There are no grounds to ask the Council to do more than that.

Durham County Council (21 018 631)

Statement Upheld Enforcement 20-Jun-2023

Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to take enforcement action in respect of a neighbouring property. The Council properly investigated the reported breaches of planning control and then used its professional judgement to decide it would not take formal action. There is fault in how it communicated with Mr X and it should apologise.

Durham County Council (22 017 918)

Statement Upheld Charging 30-Jul-2023

Summary: The Council failed to provide Mr X with timely information about charges for adult services when his son moved from children’s services to adult services. It failed to provide adequate information and support about disability related expenditure and failed to explain the process of adult social care.

Durham County Council (22 012 628)

Statement Upheld Charging 30-Aug-2023

Summary: There was fault by the Council in its handling of the charges for Mr C’s non-residential care. This resulted in the issuing of an unexpected and incorrect invoice for more than £4,000. The Ombudsman considers that the Council is entitled to recover the corrected debt, but it should make a symbolic payment of £200 to Mr C for the distress caused to him, and payments of £200 and £100 to his daughter Miss B for her distress and time and trouble.

Durham County Council (22 016 416)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 30-Aug-2023

Summary: Mr X complained the Council maliciously failed to provide the care and support he needed since 2017. Mr X also complained the Council relied on a risk assessment that was based on inaccurate information and refused to amend it despite knowing the information was incorrect. Mr X said the Council colluded with other agencies to treat him with prejudice and discrimination. The Council failed to provide the reablement care it assessed that Mr X needed for six weeks in October 2022. There is no evidence this was done with any malicious intent. There is no fault in how the Council considered and updated its risk assessment. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him a symbolic amount of £300 to recognise the distress the missed reablement caused him.

Durham County Council (22 006 163)

Statement Upheld Other 21-Sep-2023

Summary: Mr and Mrs X complain about delay in completing home insulation works which the Council agreed to fund through an energy efficiency grant. We have found service failure by the Council resulting in three months delay to the works being completed. This caused an injustice to Mr and Mrs X in the form of distress and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a financial payment and service improvements.

Durham County Council (23 002 754)

Statement Upheld Charging 17-Nov-2023

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care charges and delay in invoicing. The Council has apologised for its delay, which we consider is satisfactory action to acknowledge the shock at receiving the invoice.

Durham County Council (23 003 726)

Statement Upheld Direct payments 02-Jan-2024

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council has failed to provide her with the care and support it has assessed her as needing, causing her distress and putting unreasonable pressure on her husband. The Council was at fault as: it failed to review her care and support plan to make sure her personal budget was enough to meet her needs: left her with little choice but to accept direct payments which she did not want; has failed to meet all her needs since February 2023; did not complete her June 2022 care and support plan properly; and failed to give due regard to her rights under the Human Rights Act 1998 when responding to her complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay financial redress and take action to improve its services.

Durham County Council (23 016 735)

Statement Upheld Charging 08-Mar-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s communication when adult social care charges changed. The Council has apologised for the upset caused by not communicating with relevant representatives and is considering how to change process to ensure it communicates correctly in future. We are satisfied with the actions the Council has taken; it is unlikely an Ombudsman investigation would achieve anything further.

Durham County Council (23 018 300)

Statement Upheld Other 25-Mar-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a delay by the Council in paying an incentive payment. This is because the Council has provided a satisfactory response and there is not enough remaining injustice to warrant an investigation. In addition, an allegation of breach of contract needs to be determined in court.