A North London council could have intervened earlier to avoid an eviction notice being issued to a vulnerable man who had fallen behind in his supported living payments. An investigation found that the local authority hadn’t carried out an assessment to determine whether his mum was suitable to look after his finances and she had ‘withheld payments’ to the care provider.
Brent Council has been advised to apologise to the man and remind staff of its ‘duties in safeguarding adults’ by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) after it was found to not have ‘considered the suitability of his financial arrangements’ prior to him being evicted from his supported living place.
In January 2023, the man, referred to in the LGO report as Mr Y, had suffered a head injury that resulted in him being admitted to hospital. Following an assessment by the NHS, the man was found to ‘not have capacity’ to fully support himself. Although he was said to be able to independently complete tasks, he would need prompts and was moved into a supported living placement in May of that year.
The care provider produced a support plan, which confirmed that staff would prompt Mr Y to complete personal care tasks, cooking tasks, cleaning tasks and engage with activities. Brent Council then completed an updated capacity assessment, which determined that he had capacity to make decisions about where he lived.
However, in September 2023 he was issued with a termination letter as he had ‘not paid any bills’, leaving him in debt with the provider, as well as citing their engagement with his mother as a reason. The council spoke to the care provider to try to maintain the placement and noted that Mr Y wanted to remain there.
The man’s mother, referred to in the report at Ms X, raised a complaint with the council and was unhappy with the way it handled the case and raised a safeguarding enquiry. The council’s response included details that the care provider has ‘identified concerns and decided to stop Ms X entering the building’, according to the LGO report. It also confirmed that she was managing her son’s finances.
The investigator stated that Brent Council had provided ‘no legal basis for this agreement’ and the local authority confirmed that it had not completed a mental capacity assessment regarding finances. The report added: “The council was aware Mr Y was not paying his financial contributions for his living arrangements. This warranted further consideration by the council, as it put his tenancy at risk. The council has not considered its responsibilities to ensure Mr Y was safeguarded.”
The LGO found the council to be at fault for this and recommended that it apologised for ‘not considering the suitability of his financial arrangements’, as well as reminding staff of the council’s duties in safeguarding adults and complete a financial capacity assessment to make sure decisions are made ‘correctly and in Mr Y’s best interests’.
The council must also pay Ms X £100 ‘as an acknowledgement of the time and trouble she has spent pursuing this complaint’.
A Brent Council spokesperson said: “We sincerely apologise to the individuals affected and acknowledge shortcomings in our handling of Mr Y’s financial arrangements, as well as the delay in addressing Ms X’s complaint.”
They added: “We have implemented the Ombudsman’s recommendations and are reminding our staff of their responsibilities in handling complaints effectively and prioritising safeguarding. As a result, we have already seen a marked improvement in our complaint management.
“We are fully committed to learning from this experience and continuing to improve our approach to provide the highest standards of service to those who rely on us.”
