Council rapped after failure to involve parents in planning for vulnerable man

The Local Government Ombudsman has called on a council to involve the parents of a vulnerable man in his care planning.

The LGO issued a public interest report after Cheshire East Council failed to act on one of its previous decisions, issued last year.

The complainant parents told the Ombudsman that the local authority had failed to meet an earlier recommendation to complete a comprehensive assessment of their son.

The son is aged 50 and has Asperger Syndrome and mental health problems.

The parents also claimed to the LGO that Cheshire East had deliberately excluded them from meaningful involvement in their son’s care and treatment.

Recording a finding of maladministration causing injustice, the LGO told Cheshire East – and the council has agreed – to:

• Apologise to the complainants for failing to carry out a comprehensive reassessment of their son;
• Pay £500 “to reflect the unnecessary time and inconvenience [the parents] have been put to in pursuing their complaint”;
• Undertake a comprehensive reassessment of the man under the Care Programme Approach with colleagues in mental health services. The LGO anticipated that this process would be completed within three months of the council receiving the public interest report; and
• Report back on the outcome of the reassessment.

The LGO, Dr Jane Martin, said that in the event that the reassessment leads to an increase or significant change in services to the man, she would consider if there were any further injustice to him requiring an additional remedy.

Dr Martin added: “I am disappointed that Cheshire East Council failed to take on board my recommendations after my first decision last year, and it is only now that they have pledged to carry them out.

“However, the council has now agreed to involve the family in their son’s care planning and has agreed to reassess their son’s needs.”