Care Plans and Cuts LGO

Derby City Council criticised for delaying a review after a cut to a person’s activities budget, but upheld with regard to its stance that the needs should be met by other means

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Delay and non-commissioning, Delay In General LGO, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Delay in General /

ate of decision: 25 November 2025 SummaryA woman complained that the Council stopped funding her disabled adult daughter’s place at a local youth theatre programme that was central to her development and social life. She said the Council’s delay in reviewing support and its refusal to reinstate funding left her daughter distressed and forced the […]

Derby City Council criticised for delaying a review after a cut to a person’s activities budget, but upheld with regard to its stance that the needs should be met by other means Read More »

Bath and North East Somerset Council partly upheld, part criticised regarding its approach to funding recreational activities via a personal budget

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Direct Payments and Personal Health Budgets, Direct Payments LGO, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Direct Payments /

Date of decision: 26 May 2026 SummaryA relative complained that the Council stopped an autistic man’s direct payment funding for community activities after a review of his care and support plan, recording him as agreeing to changes and failing to give him or his family a copy of the revised plan, which caused avoidable confusion

Bath and North East Somerset Council partly upheld, part criticised regarding its approach to funding recreational activities via a personal budget Read More »

North Northamptonshire Council castigated for leaving a person without their community support hours, for want of capacity in the market, effectively forcing free labour out of a relative who was already a paid carer

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Carer LGO, Civil Proceedings, Financial Compensation and Restitution, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Restitution, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE the position of informal carers, Restitution LGO, The rights of carers, in relation to health and social care services and support /

Date of decision: 30 May 2026 Summary The complaint concerned an adult man with learning disabilities, whose eligible care and support needs included 40 hours a week of funded community support to access social, recreational and leisure activities, in addition to direct payments for care at home.  When the Council switched his community support from

North Northamptonshire Council castigated for leaving a person without their community support hours, for want of capacity in the market, effectively forcing free labour out of a relative who was already a paid carer Read More »

Derbyshire County Council responsible for faults in care assessment and personal budget setting for a direct payment after a revision

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Delay and non-commissioning, Delay In General LGO, Direct Payments and Personal Health Budgets, Direct Payments LGO, Failings to Assess, Reassess, Review LGO, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Delay in General, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Direct Payments, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Failings to Assess, Reassess, Review, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Providers' 'Fault', Providers' Fault LGO, Reviews and Revisions (cuts or changes to content) /

Date of decision: 08 April 2026 Summary Derbyshire Council was at fault for delays and inconsistencies in assessing and re-assessing an elderly woman’s care needs, for producing inconsistent personal budgets and care plans, and for delaying complaint responses. What happened Mrs Y was an elderly woman with several health conditions who lived at home with

Derbyshire County Council responsible for faults in care assessment and personal budget setting for a direct payment after a revision Read More »

Birmingham City Council’s failings regarding top-up process reveals a range of potential illegalities and errors of law

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Choice of Accommodation and Top-Ups LGO, Choice of Accommodation post Care Act, Commissioning, Joint Working and Integration, Integration and Identifying the Liable Authority LGO, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Choice of Accommodation, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Integration and Identifying the Liable Authority /

Date of decision: 28 May 2026 SummaryA woman was discharged from hospital into a residential care home after a stroke, needing double hoisting, with the Council arranging and funding the placement under the Care Act. The home chosen by the family charged more than the Council’s “usual” rate, and instead of ensuring at least one

Birmingham City Council’s failings regarding top-up process reveals a range of potential illegalities and errors of law Read More »

Bristol Council criticised for underfunding a direct payment for a Shared Lives Client who had spent private money on backfill cover for the Shared Lives’ carer’s annual leave.

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Civil Proceedings, Financial Compensation and Restitution, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Restitution, Restitution LGO, Supported Living LGO /

Date of decision: 06 January 2025 Summary Mr X, a disabled adult living in a Shared Lives household, missed out on appropriate direct payments for respite care when his carer, Mrs Z, took her contractual leave. The Council’s offer to reimburse him for these missed payments was significantly less than the actual costs he incurred,

Bristol Council criticised for underfunding a direct payment for a Shared Lives Client who had spent private money on backfill cover for the Shared Lives’ carer’s annual leave. Read More »

Dudley MBC placed a vulnerable adult nearly 100 miles from home, then failed to make proper transport arrangements for relationship maintenance, whilst he remained unsuitably placed

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Failings to Assess, Reassess, Review LGO, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Failings to Assess, Reassess, Review, Reviews and Revisions (cuts or changes to content) /

Date of decision: 11 December 2025 Summary A complaint about the Council’s handling of a man’s care and support needs when his existing residential placement closed down. The Council placed him almost 100 miles from his family home, failed to carry out a transport risk assessment despite concerns about long car journeys, and did not

Dudley MBC placed a vulnerable adult nearly 100 miles from home, then failed to make proper transport arrangements for relationship maintenance, whilst he remained unsuitably placed Read More »

Trafford Council omitted key details from a reablement request, after an NHS hospital discharge process and rehab stay, and failed to ensure commissioned carers were competent and additionally failing to co-operate on a subsequent complaint, with the Health Trust involved, citing  ‘differing professional opinions of the complaint parameters’…

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Failings to Assess, Reassess, Review LGO, Hospital LGO, How NHS services and Continuing NHS Health Care fit in with the Care Act, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Failings to Assess, Reassess, Review, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Hospital and CHC, Reviews and Revisions (cuts or changes to content) /

Date of decision: 07 July 2025 SummaryThis was a complaint about serious failings in a Trafford Council‑commissioned care package for an elderly woman discharged from intermediate care. Errors in information sharing, equipment training and handling by both the Council and NHS Trust caused risk of injury, financial loss, and lasting uncertainty. What happened In July

Trafford Council omitted key details from a reablement request, after an NHS hospital discharge process and rehab stay, and failed to ensure commissioned carers were competent and additionally failing to co-operate on a subsequent complaint, with the Health Trust involved, citing  ‘differing professional opinions of the complaint parameters’… Read More »

West Northants exonerated with regard to the council’s preference for supported living over a care home provider, albeit on grounds that are dubious in law…

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Choice of Accommodation and Top-Ups LGO, Choice of Accommodation post Care Act, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Choice of Accommodation, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Not at Fault, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Supported Living, Not at Fault LGO, Remedies, rights, complaints, regulatory and criminal law aspects to adult social care, enforcement of one’s rights, Supported Living and Care, Supported Living LGO /

Date of decision: 20 April 2026 SummaryThe complaint challenged the Council’s timeliness, involvement, consideration of a preferred provider and complaint handling after an urgent review request about an adult daughter’s long‑term care; the Ombudsman found no fault, concluding the Council completed assessment and care planning within acceptable times, involved Ms Y and her mother throughout

West Northants exonerated with regard to the council’s preference for supported living over a care home provider, albeit on grounds that are dubious in law… Read More »

Norfolk County Council at fault for failing to reassess Care Act needs before reducing a client’s support service

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Care Plans and Cuts LGO, Failings to Assess, Reassess, Review LGO, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE care planning, and personal budgets, Intro to Ombudsman reports RE Failings to Assess, Reassess, Review, Reviews and Revisions (cuts or changes to content) /

Date of decision: 27 March 2026 SummaryAn adult woman, Miss X, receiving adult social care complained that Norfolk County Council reduced  her home support hours from six per week to four (two of which were from a PA) and then reduced that further to one agency visit of 2 hours per fortnight, without evidence it

Norfolk County Council at fault for failing to reassess Care Act needs before reducing a client’s support service Read More »