Councils have been urged to properly consider care circumstances in funding decisions after an authority mistakenly withheld payments over working hours concerns.
Cheshire East Council wrongly refused direct payments to a young man who wanted his mother to provide round-the-clock care over fears the mother could not be legally paid to work over 48 hours a week.
The council said the full time university student needed 56 hours of care per week and 20 hours of support with social activities. A delay in the local authority providing care meant the man’s mother had to give up work to become his carer.
While the mother agreed to be employed outside of working time regulations, Cheshire East incorrectly used the measure and delayed its agreement to him paying his mother through direct payments.
It was not until intervention from the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) in August 2014 that Cheshire East agreed to backdate the pay to February 2014.
However this payment was also limited to 48 hours a week and put on hold due to a LGO investigation.
Cheshire East admitted that it should not have used the working time regulations as a legal bar but said it was considering the impact of care on the mother. However the LGO found it did not work with the family to find a resolution.
The LGO said the delay in the delivery of direct payments following a request in February 2014 to their commencement in October that year had a ‘significant impact’ on the family.
Dr Jane Martin, local government ombudsman, said: ‘Direct payments are about giving people flexibility and choice, and in this case while the young man was adjusting to significant life changes, he wanted his mother to provide his care.
‘The council did not give proper consideration to the exceptional circumstances the family found themselves in and, while we would not normally criticise a council for considering the risks of employing a family member as a carer or working unreasonable hours, the absence of a risk assessment or detailed discussion in this case casts doubt on the council’s decision.’
Cheshire East has now agreed to pay the mother the equivalent cost of 76 hours per week care she provided from 6 January 2014 and give the man and his mother £600 to cover their time and distress.
Chief executive of Cheshire East Council, Mike Suarez, said: ‘We are deeply sorry for any distress caused to the family and have apologised to them. We have already implemented a number of the actions recommended by the ombudsmen.
‘Cheshire East Council also acknowledges that the assessment process was not as robust or as comprehensive as it should have been and we accept that there were unacceptable delays in the decision making process in this case.
‘The findings of the LGO are being taken very seriously by the Council and acted upon with urgency and all areas will be reviewed.’
