The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council completing an assessment which did not accurately identify his needs. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council completed an assessment in April 2022 which did not accurately identify his needs. This left him without support and he says he is struggling.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
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 provided evidence it offered Mr X four separate appointments between March 2022 and June 2022 to assess his care and support needs. The Council said Mr X only attended one appointment in April 2022.
The Council has not been able to complete an assessment of Mr X’s care and support needs due to Mr X not attending the assessment appointments. Mr X said he did not attend the appointments because of his anxiety.
The Council said it offered to complete an assessment of Mr X’s care and support needs through the phone, email, and via an online self-assessment. The Council said Mr X has not taken any of these offers up.
The Council has shown due consideration of Mr X’s anxiety and mental health. It has appropriately offered Mr X alternative arrangements to allow it to complete its assessment of his care and support needs. The onus is on Mr X to engage with the assessment process to allow the Council to identify his eligible care and support needs.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman