Luton council pays £250 to resident over delays assessing mum's financial care contributions

The council was at fault as its communication was poor and “progressing the matter” took a significant amount of time, according to the local government and social care ombudsman.

The daughter complained LBC failed to respond promptly when her mother’s savings fell below the upper capital threshold, said the ombudsman’s report.

“She says the council delayed completing the financial assessment and other assessments, leading to arrears, stress and uncertainty. Her mother, who had dementia, was living in a residential care home.

“As she had capital above the upper threshold, she was paying for her care herself. The daughter requested LBC assess her mother, as she would soon have less than the upper capital threshold of £23,250.

“She completed an online financial assessment calculation, but didn’t hear back until contacting LBC to say her mother’s capital would run out in ten weeks.

“The council noted the matter was urgent and said it was waiting to allocate it to a qualified social worker, which it did via a contractor in March 2024.

“The care home said it wouldn’t accept the local authority’s rate, but would agree £1,200 per week. On May 15, the daughter complained at stage one of LBC’s complaint procedure because she still hadn’t heard anything.

“She was frustrated about being left in the dark while her mother’s funds depleted. She advised LBC that her mother’s health had deteriorated and it would be inhumane to move her,” explained the report.

“On June 7, the council replied to the complaint. It noted the current care home wouldn’t continue to be suitable because her needs had changed and it would reassess her needs.

“The daughter replied that the complaint wasn’t resolved, so she complained to the ombudsman. LBC responded to her July 8 complaint in September.

“LBC said its stage one response accepted there were delays by its social work contractor in allocating the case and it had taken action. But it acknowledged promises weren’t delivered in a timely way. Some delays were outside its control,” added the report.

“The council considered recent communications were clear and timely. It upheld her complaint that it hadn’t taken action in line with its core values to be collaborative and supportive, and apologised for this.

“It said it was implementing service improvements to provide a more responsive reaction from the first request to delivering care and support. Her mother’s health deteriorated in September, and she passed away before she was able to move to an alternative care home.

“LBC made payments in December to the care home, which has reimbursed her mother’s estate the credit on the account. The council accepts there were faults in its handling of this matter.

“A suitable remedy for the injustice caused by delays was provided in the financial calculation. But the daughter experienced frustration, distress and uncertainty, as well as the time and trouble involved. LBC agreed to pay her £250 as a symbolic payment to recognise this.”