Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s invoicing system. This is because further investigation could not add to the Council’s response or make a finding of the kind Mrs B wants.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained the Council’s invoicing system is flawed. Mrs B says the Council often sends out incorrect invoices for her daughter’s, Ms C’s, contribution towards her care but when the invoices are wrong, it is unable send a further invoice to reflect the amendments because the system does not allow it. Mrs B says it is difficult to keep track of what Ms C should pay when the Council continues to send out incorrect invoices and wants it to implement a system that can generate amended invoices.

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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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council apologised it cannot produce the additional invoices Mrs B wants. It explained once monthly invoices have been generated its system does not allow for a further amended invoice to be sent. It says it will monitor this and use Mrs B’s feedback with partner agencies when looking at making improvements to the system. We could not add to this or make a different finding even if we investigated.
6. The Council says Ms C pays a contribution towards the cost of her care, but it is not pro-rata. So on occasions when she only attend college part of the week Ms C is still liable to pay her full contribution because the amount she contributes does not exceed the full cost of the care she receives. It says invoices should only be generated in term time when Ms C attends college and there were occasions last year and more recently February this year, when Ms C was charged for weeks she did not attend college. The Council says it has now set up a ‘suspension’ in the system to reflect term dates so future invoices should be correct. The Council provided Mrs B with a table showing dates and the outstanding amount owed so she is now clear about what is outstanding and needs to be paid. We could achieve no more than this even if we investigated.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because further investigation could not add to the Council’s response or make a different finding of the kind Mrs B wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman