The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council charging him his assessed contribution towards his care costs. This is because it is unlikely we would find enough evidence of fault with the way the Council assessed Mr B’s finances to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.
The complaint
Mr B says the amount the Council says he should contribute towards his care costs is far too much. Mr B wants the Council to accept a lower amount than it has assessed him as having to pay.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council explained although it received all the necessary paperwork to complete a financial assessment for Mr B in February, it did not complete it until July. However, it did not charge Mr B his assessed contribution until August, so he was not disadvantaged financially by the delay. It said following the financial assessment Mr B’s assessable income had increased from £197.65 a week to £297.15 a week. It considered Mr B’s Disability Related Expenditure (DRE) and calculated Mr B had enough income to contribute £29 a week towards his care costs.
Although Mr B is unhappy with the amount he has been assessed as having to contribute towards his care costs we could not say this is fault. The Council assigned Mr B’s preferred choice of officer to complete the assessment, the officer liaised with Mr B’s Personal Assistant to ensure all of his allowable DRE expenses were included in the assessment and confirmed he had enough income to contribute £29 towards the costs of his care. Further investigation by us could not add to this.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman