Devon County Council has agreed to look into how it calculated allowances to nearly 300 families who look after children as special guardians, following an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

During a complaint from a woman who was looking after her grandchild under a Special Guardianship Order, the Ombudsman found the council was wrongly taking into account benefits payments when calculating the allowances it would pay, contrary to the Ombudsman’s long-held position on this topic, and Government recommendations.

The council wrongly had a blanket policy of deducting child benefit from all special guardians receiving universal credit. The council agreed to change this policy with effect from January 2024.

It also confirmed there were 170 other special guardians in the county on means tested benefits who may have been impacted by its calculations, and a further 125 where the council had no information.

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“It is disappointing that the council cannot provide us with any evidence that it considered the individual circumstances of special guardians receiving means-tested benefits before making the deductions and instead applied its policy to everyone without justification.

“In addition to this, it relied on its own policy to make these calculations – not national guidance – but its policy was based on its misunderstanding of our decisions in other cases.

“I am pleased the council has now agreed to amend its policy and revisit the calculations it has made to others in its area, but it should not have taken several complaints by this grandmother and our investigation for it to realise that its own policy was wrong.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise to the grandmother and recalculate her Special Guardianship Allowance (SGA) following government guidance and pay her a sum equivalent to the deductions it has made since January 2022.

It will also pay her a combined £600 for the delays caused by its complaints process and for the lack of support and information following her Special Guardianship Order.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council has agreed to recalculate the SGAs it has paid to the other 170 special guardians using correct guidance and pay them a sum equivalent to any deductions it has wrongly made.

For the 125 carers about whom it has no information, it has agreed to invite them to provide information to enable it to review their financial circumstances and, where appropriate, recalculate their SGAs, backdating any amount due.

It will also review its complaints system to ensure statutory timescales are being met.

Article date: 22 February 2024

In this month’s edition of the Ombudsman’s findings, we highlight the power of apologies. 

This month we published decision reports from 17 complaints investigated by the Ombudsman. Fourteen of these were about health services, one about health and social care, one about local government, and one about a university. The outcome of these 17 complaints were

• Fully upheld: 11
• Some upheld: 4
• Not upheld: 2

Recommendations and feedback 

We made 57 recommendations to public bodies. Nearly a third of these asked organisations to apologise to those concerned. 

Apologies are an important and powerful tool. They are often the first step to repairing a damaged relationship and, while apologising cannot change what has happened, it can help to restore dignity and trust. Our published guidance ‘How to make a good apology’ outlines the steps you can take to make a meaningful apology. If communicated sincerely and effectively, it can undo the negative effects of previous service failings. 

We also made a number of learning recommendations that asked public bodies to improve on their communication with service users. By ensuring they have all the relevant information, individuals can manage their expectations about the service they receive. 

All our published decision reports can be read in full on our website.

Thurrock bin crews have repeatedly trapped a wheelchair user in her home when they have not returned her bins to their proper place, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has found.

The LGSCO has investigated three separate complaints from the woman since 2019 about how Thurrock Council provides her assisted bin collections. Assisted collections are offered to people who cannot move their bins to the kerbside by themselves.

The woman said her bins were frequently missed by collection crews, and at times when they were collected, they were not returned to the right place or left blocking her driveway. As a wheelchair user, this meant she could not leave her house until someone moved the bins as she could not do so herself.

Thurrock Council has now agreed to carry out a review of bin complaints to identify whether it has any ongoing problems with the collection service it offers to people with disabilities.

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“This woman has reported issues with her bin collections for four years. While this might seem a minor irritation for some, it has had a significant impact on her freedom, dignity, and ability to maintain a normal life. She tells us that when the bins have been returned to the wrong place or left blocking her driveway, she has had to call on friends and relatives to help or make calls to the council just so she can leave her home.

“It’s clear in this case the council’s efforts to improve the service for this woman just haven’t worked long-term, and the monitoring it put in place has not resolved the situation.

“I’m now asking the council to apologise to the woman, offer her a meeting with a senior manager and fully review all the service complaints it has received about its assisted collections service to identify any trends.

“I hope this will encourage the council to treat this issue seriously and ensure there is a proper solution for people with additional needs in its area.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise to the woman and pay her £350 to recognise the distress caused by its failings. It will also offer the woman a meeting with a senior manager to discuss the issues and the action it has taken, and report back to the Ombudsman what this is.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council has agreed to review service requests and complaints about assisted bin collections over the last six months. If these show there are wider problems with the way it delivers its assisted bin collection service to its residents, it will consider what changes can be made to improve the service.

We issue today a public interest report about a failure by Aneurin Bevan Health Board to offer fampridine, a drug that may help to improve walking for some patients with multiple sclerosis, to eligible patients in its area.

Summary

We launched an investigation after Mrs X complained that the Health Board failed to offer her treatment with fampridine after its approval for NHS use in Wales.

We found that although fampridine was approved by the Welsh Government as an NHS funded treatment in Wales in December 2019, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board had still not put in place arrangements to offer fampridine to Mrs X, or any eligible patients in its area.  

During our investigation, we found evidence that the Health Board had estimated that there may be around 500 patients in its area who may be eligible for this treatment. The Health Board said it had been unable to offer the drug due to a lack of resources. It said that a business case for introduction of the drug was being developed, including the need to recruit suitable staff to ensure the safe roll-out of fampridine treatment.

The Health Board said that it was not able to refer patients to other health boards nearby, as they already had waiting lists for accessing fampridine within their own areas.  Fampridine is not NHS funded in England, so the Health Board stated there was no possibility of seeking an agreement to refer patients there for treatment.  

Commenting on the report, Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, Michelle Morris, said:

“Newly approved medicines should be offered within 60 days of approval by the Welsh Government. It is therefore concerning that fampridine is not being offered to any of the eligible patients within the Health Board’s area.

Even if the Health Board’s own Pre-Investment Panel approves the funding immediately, the Health Board has estimated another 3 to 6 months to recruit staff.  This means that the earliest fampridine could be offered to patients is the middle of 2024.  This represents over 4 years since the approval of fampridine as an NHS-funded treatment in Wales.

This delay is unacceptable. It has caused and continues to cause injustice to Mrs X, and other patients, who remain unclear as to when or if they will have access to this potentially life improving medication.”

Recommendations

We recommended that the Health Board should apologise to Mrs X and that it should urgently establish an action plan, with timescales, for the provision of fampridine. We also asked the Health Board to share our report with the Board or relevant committee who should oversee and regularly review the action plan to ensure that good progress is made and that the actions are completed. 

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board accepted our findings and conclusions and agreed to implement these recommendations.

You can read the full version of the public interest report into Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (202301069) here.

15/02/2024

Uncategorised |

hu, 15/02/2024 - 12:00

Our consultation on the draft SPSO Strategic Plan 2024—2028 (PDF, 1.2MB) is now open.

The plan, driven by our key values, sets out our priorities and approach for the next four years.

“I and my team remain deeply committed to our values and ensuring that we contribute actively and positively to the wider rights-based approach to public service delivery.” 

Rosemary Agnew 
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

We invite comments, from individuals and organisations, about all aspects of the draft plan. You can provide comments online by using our online consultation response form. Alternatively, you can download a word version of the form below and email your response to ise-communications@spso.gov.scot. 

Downloads

• Draft SPSO Strategic Plan 2024-2028 (PDF, 1.2MB)
• SPSO Strategic Plan 2024-2028 consultation response form (Word, 88KB)