Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint the Care Home made false allegations about her behaviour to the Council. The allegations were considered as part of court proceedings. Therefore, the law says we cannot investigate.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Care Home where her mother, Ms Y lives, made false allegations about her to the Council. She said the Care Home was also obstructive when she tried to arrange video calls with Ms Y. She is worried Ms Y may experience neglect in the Care Home.
2. Ms X said the Care Homes actions had left her feeling unable to contact Ms Y. She wants the Care Home to apologise and compensate her.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
5. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
6. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Care Provider.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. The allegations Ms X complains about were included as part of a witness statement to the Court of Protection. Ms X also included them in her own submissions to the Court, alongside her concerns about Ms Y’s wellbeing.
10. The law says we cannot investigate matters that have been considered by the courts. That includes any information presented as part of court proceedings. Therefore, her complaint around the Care Home’s allegations and Ms Y’s care are outside of our jurisdiction.
11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Care Home is obstructive in arranging video calls between Ms X and Ms Y, as by her own admission these calls have occurred. Therefore, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify involvement. In addition, If Ms X believes the Care Home was not abiding with a previous Court Order around contact, it was appropriate for her to raise those concerns as part of recent court proceedings.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because the law says we cannot consider matters that have been party to court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman