London Borough of Croydon (21 011 494)
Category : Adult care services > Charging
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Feb 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about social care invoices the Council sent to the complainant. That is because it is unlikely we would be able to add to the Council’s investigation or achieve a significantly different outcome for the complainant.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr C, complained about the invoices the Council had sent to him for the cost of his social care.
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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:
- we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (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
- In a letter to Mr B’s MP in October 2021 the Council said its record of Mr B’s address had been incorrect. When it corrected the address, its system had reissued invoices to Mr B dating back to October 2020. The Council said one of its officers would work with Mr B to complete a new financial assessment. The Council would then calculate his financial contribution to his care costs. The Council said, after that, it would reissue the invoices.
- Following on from the new financial assessment, the Council recalculated Mr B’s financial contribution. The outcome was the amount Mr B was due to pay reduced substantially. The Council has told us Mr B was satisfied with this outcome. It is unlikely we would be able to add to the Council’s investigation or achieve a significantly different outcome for Mr B if we investigated his complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is unlikely we would be able to add to the Council’s investigation or achieve a significantly different outcome for him.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman