North Yorkshire Council has been told to re-calculate how much a woman should pay for her care after its predecessor wrongly included £20,000 she had given away in gifts in its calculations.

The woman’s family complained the council had been satisfied the money had not been given away to avoid paying more for her care home fees but still included it in calculating how much she would have to pay.

Paul Najsarek, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “The family said the woman’s sole reason for gifting the money was to help her children and grandchildren, and be able to see it while she was still alive.

“They told the council she had paid about 90% of her money towards her care home fees, and she had had no intention of avoiding paying her fair share, but the council still included this gifted money in its sums.

“During our investigation we found four other people have been potentially affected by the same issues, so I am pleased the council has accepted my recommendations to remedy this for both the woman whose family has complained and those others.”

The Ombudsman’s findings were made against the former council, however the new unitary authority will carry out the recommendations.

North Yorkshire Council’s director of health and adult services, Richard Webb, said: “While we have raised concerns with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman over aspects of this case and how it has been reported, we accept that our explanation to Mrs Y and her family was not clear.

“We have apologised to both Mrs Y and her family for the distress and anxiety that was caused as a consequence.

“In line with the Ombudsman’s recommendations, we have already implemented much of what was required of us prior to publication of the report and further work is ongoing to ensure our procedures comply with current legislation.”