Overview
The complainant (Ms C) raised concerns about The Moray Council (the Council)'s handling of her request for direct payments to enable her to purchase help with domestic tasks in her home.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that there was:
- (a) failure by the support organisation representing the Council (the Organisation) to provide accurate information to Ms C about her application for direct payments (partially upheld, to the extent that there was a failure to refer Ms C back to the Council for appropriate advice);
- (b) a delay in processing Ms Cs application (upheld); and
- (c) failure to conduct a proper investigation into Ms C's complaint against the Organisation (upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:
- (i) have regard to the failures identified in this report when they undertake their planned review of their direct payments procedure;
- (ii) give appropriate support and assistance to Ms C to help her decide what help she needs to receive in her home and maintain this after implementation of any service offered by the Council;
- (iii) make a payment of £750 to Ms C in recognition of service failure and an additional sum of £250 for time and trouble; and
- (iv) as a matter of priority, take steps to implement a complaint process which is open, capable of proper audit and accessible by service users.
The Council have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.