Council let down woman struggling with direct payments, says Ombudsman

A local authority should have been proactive and commissioned care for a woman who was struggling with direct payments, the Local Government Ombudsman has said.

In a report the LGO said Thurrock Council had failed to provide the correct services to a mother (Mrs J) and her daughter.

The mother, who suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and back pain, complained to the Ombudsman that the local authority had failed to properly assess her adult social care needs.

Mrs J said she had been assessed as needing ten hours of assistance each week, but that Thurrock had only offered her six hours a week. She claimed that there had been no provision in place while the council wanted her to arrange direct payments.

The mother also complained on behalf of her daughter, who has autism, communication problems and epilepsy. She said the council had consistently failed to provide care for the child.

When that care was provided, it was of a poor standard, it was claimed. Mrs J also complained of being pressured into accepting direct payments for her daughter’s care.

She claimed that the council failed to respond to her concerns about these issues, with officers telling her to take the complaint directly to the agency.

Issuing a finding of fault causing injustice, the Ombudsman recommended that Thurrock:

• pay Mrs J £500 to acknowledge that for around seven months she did not receive service despite having eligible need;
• pay a further £1,000 to acknowledge that it did not provide care for her daughter; and
• pay the woman £250 for the time and trouble she spent in pursuing the complaint.

Thurrock has agreed to take the steps recommended by the LGO.

Dr Jane Martin, the Ombudsman, said: “In this case, Thurrock Council claimed it had no influence over the management of the care agency’s staff and its service provision.

“I would like to remind councils that they are responsible for ensuring that the support they commission is provided correctly – whilst a council can choose to outsource service delivery they cannot outsource the accountability to local users.”