Summary: There is evidence of delay by the Council in processing Ms X’s direct payments. It also delayed in allocating her a named worker.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council:

• delayed in providing her care package from February to December 2022; and
• delayed in taking her complaint about this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have:

• considered the complaint and discussed it with Ms X;
• considered the correspondence between Ms X and the Council, including the Council’s response to his complaint;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the responses;
• taken account of relevant legislation;
• offered Ms X and the Council an opportunity to comment on a draft of this document.

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What I found

Relevant legislation

5. Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 say councils must assess the needs of an adult who appears to need care and support. The council must do this regardless of whether it thinks the person has eligible needs and regardless of the person’s finances.
6. The statutory guidance at part 6 says a council must consider “the total extent of a person’s needs” before it “considers the person’s eligibility for care and support and what types of care and support can help to meet those needs. This must include looking at the impact of the adult’s needs on their wellbeing and whether meeting those needs will help the adult achieve their desired outcomes”.
7. After assessing the total extent of a person’s needs, the council should consider which are eligible needs under the Care Act 2014. The guidance says councils must consider whether:
1. The adult’s needs are due to a physical or mental impairment or illness.
2. The adult’s needs mean they cannot achieve one or more specified outcomes.
3. As a consequence of being unable to achieve one or more of the specified outcomes there is, or is likely to be, a significant impact on the adult’s wellbeing.
8. Where the council decides someone has eligible needs, it must produce a care and support plan explaining how to meet them. The care and support plan should consider what needs the person has, what they want to achieve, what they can do by themselves or with existing support and what care and support is available locally.

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Background

9. Ms X is in her fifties. She has physical and mental health issues. To enable ease of reading Ms X prefers written communication in at least size 16 font.
10. The Council assessed Ms X’s care needs on 8 February 2022. This was done by telephone as per Ms X’s request. The assessment concluded Ms X had an eligible care need for support to access the community, engage with others and participate in meaningful activity I have had sight of a copy of the assessment. It is completed properly and without fault.
11. The assessor agreed to telephone Ms X again on 18 February 2022 as a follow-up to the assessment. The records do not show such a call took place, however there is an entry on the records dated 17 March 2022 which says, “Email sent to advise of client contribution, I have tried to contact by telephone several times but there has been no answer”.
12. The records show the Council approved funding for 4 hours per week support via direct payment of £80.80 on 21 March 2022 of which Ms X was informed on 23 March 2022.
13. In April 2022 two personal assistants were identified. After meeting Ms X one of the carers felt she would not be able to offer the support Ms X needed and the other did not follow-up the role beyond the enquiry stage. Ms X was reported to be upset and asked the Council for a month to revaluate her situation. The Council’s brokerage team ended its involvement on this basis.
14. Ms X contacted the Council again a week later, 13 April 2022, to enquire how she would access the direct payment. The officer discussed the pre-paid card system. Ms X said she was unsure how she would source a personal assistant. The notes confirm that the brokerage team’s involvement had been ended and the direct payment was not in progress. The officer advised Ms X to contact her social worker.
15. A social worker contacted Ms X on 27 April 2022. Ms X confirmed she would like to progress the direct payment and to source personal assistants. The social worker addressed Ms X’s queries about the administration and process.
16. In May 2022, the social worker spoke to Ms X again. The records show she was upset and struggling to navigate the system. She confirmed she wished to source her own personal assistants. The social worker recorded he had reiterated all previous advice given to Ms X and that he would speak with the direct payment team to ask how the situation could be progressed.
17. The records show the discussion between the social worker and the direct payments team. The direct payments team confirmed it had been unable to source suitable personal assistants and that it would set up a prepayment card and credit the allocated budget to allow Ms X the flexibility to “possibly engage with several PA’S”.
18. After speaking to the direct payments team, the social worker telephoned Ms X and left a message explaining another officer would contact her.
19. An officer for the Council’s commission team contacted Ms X in June 2022 to discuss the required identity checks with Ms X in June 2022. Ms X was reluctant to meet in person and did not have the necessary IT equipment to complete this remotely. The officer referred back to Ms X’s social worker and asked him to speak to Ms X as the direct payment could not be progressed without the required checks.
20. Ms X says she did not fully understand why she needed to confirm her identity when she had already undergone a care act assessment. She also did not understand exactly how she could provide the information. She says she spoke to officers about various ways to provide the information, but she did not understand she could visit a council customer service centre until she walked into such a centre and enquired if this was possible.
21. The records confirm Ms X attended the Council’s customer services on 14 September 2022 and provided evidence of her identity.
22. A council officer recorded she attempted to telephone Ms X in October and November 2022 without success. The officer asked that another officer contact Ms X to confirm the identity check was complete and to discuss the next steps.
23. Ms X contacted the social worker on 30 November 2022 to express her frustration about the delay in the direct payment process and that she wanted to complete the process as soon as possible. She said she had received several messages from council officers but that no contact numbers had been left to allow her to return the calls.
24. On 6 December 2022, the records show that an officer enquired why the direct payment had not been progressed and that it needed to start as soon as possible. The officer recorded that Ms X had not provided details of a personal assistant and that needed to be in place before the direct payment was activated. The following day an officer recorded there was no start date on the care plan and the direct payment could not start without this.
25. Ms X contacted the social worker on 9 December 2022 to say she was hopeful that the direct payment would soon be finalised.
26. A council officer spoke to Ms X on 15 December 2022 to say the direct payment had been activated from 12 December 2022. Ms X expressed her dissatisfaction about the time it had taken to complete the identity check. She also said she had been told the direct payment would be backdated to the point of the completed needs assessment. The officer explained to consider this the Council would require evidence of fees paid and the support provided would have to have been in accordance with the care plan.
27. Ms X said she had struggled to find people who accept anything other than cash.
28. Ms X says the delays and having to chase the Council for updates caused her stress which impacted on her mental health and she wanted to submit a formal complaint to the Council about this but the Council failed to accept it. The Council says Ms X tried to submit a web complaint form which failed, following which the complaint was taken by telephone. It says citizens can submit complaints in “...webform, in person, by telephone, by letter, by email. If adjustments are needed, these will and have been accommodated, eg by use of text relay service”.
29. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint in writing on 22 December 2022. I have had sight of this letter. The author apologised if the reason for an identity check had not been properly explained at the time it was requested. She (author) explained this had been the primary cause of the delay in processing the direct payment. She apologised that Ms X had not been provided with the contact details of the officer that she had contact with and explained the Council was introducing a named worker approach, and that a named worker would be allocated to each service user permanently and be their first point of contact. She said Ms X would be allocated a named worker in due course.
30. The Council wrote to Ms X on 2 January 2023 to confirm the start and amount of direct payment would receive. A payment of £565.60 was made to the payment card account on 30 December 2022 to cover the period 12 December 2022 to 29 January 2023.
31. In response to my enquiries the Council says, it will consider backdating some of the payment if Ms X can evidence that she used and paid for care within the scope of the care plan before the direct payment was issued. It also says a named worker was supposed to be allocated to Ms X in January 2023 but due to the pressures within the team it did not happen until 13 February 2023 and because of that it proposes an apology and a remedy of £200.

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Analysis

32. There is evidence of delay by the Council in processing Ms X’s direct payments.
33. The delay was due to the incomplete identity check. Had the necessary documents been provided at the time they were requested the delay would likely have been avoided. The Council accepts Ms X may not have fully understood the reason for the checks. It could have explained this better.
34. It is not clear if the Council informed Ms X that she could attend a customer service centre to provide the necessary documentation, but she could have enquired at the customer service centre sooner than she did.
35. From September 2022 onwards the Council had the necessary identity documentation, but Ms X did not receive her direct payments until January 2023. There was no good reason for the delay. This caused Ms X unnecessary frustration and distress.
36. I consider the Council’s position about the backdating of direct payments to be fair. Direct payments should be used in accordance with a care plan and receipts obtained, whether the payments are made in cash or any other form. The Council has a duty to protect the public purse and it is entitled to seek evidence of the use of public funds. If Ms X can locate evidence of spending on care in accordance with the care plan, then the Council should consider reimbursing her.
37. The Council accepts a delay in allocating Ms X a named worker. Because of this Ms X had contact with numerous officers which added to her sense of frustration, confusion, and distress. For this the Council has agreed to apologise and make a token payment of £200.
38. I cannot criticise the Council for the way it handled Ms X’s complaint about the above matters. Sometimes technology fails and the reason is unclear. When the internet complaint form failed, the Council took Ms X’s complaint over the telephone. Ms X may have experienced some frustration, but I do not consider any significant injustice was caused.

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Agreed action

39. The Council has offered to apologise to Ms X for the delay in allocating her a named worker and make a token payment of £200.
40. In addition, it should apologise for the delay in processing the direct payment between September 2022 and January 2023.

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Final decision

41. There is evidence of fault by the Council in the delay in Ms X receiving her direct payments and a delay in allocating her a named worker.
42. The recommendations above are a suitable way to settle the complaint.
43. It is on this basis; the complaint will be closed.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman