Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of safeguarding concerns relating to her mother, Mrs Y. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the way in which the Council has dealt with safeguarding concerns she has raised regarding her mother’s care since 2022. She believes the Council has failed to take account of all the evidence presented and has made inaccurate statements. She wants the Council to undertake proper safeguarding enquiries and acknowledge the concerns raised by her and others about her mother’s life being at risk.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. 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, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

6. The Council is the local safeguarding authority, its aim is to protect an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. The Council must decide whether a concern it receives warrants an enquiry. The purpose of an enquiry is to decide whether the Council, or another organisation, or person, should do something to help and protect the adult.
7. The Council has provided Mrs X with a detailed complaint response. This sets out all the action it has taken in relation to concerns Mrs X has raised about her mother’s care since May 2022. It has explained in detail why it has decided concerns raised did not meet the threshold for further safeguarding action and highlighted that some matters fall within the jurisdiction of other agencies, such as the Office of the Public Guardian and the Court of Protection to consider. Ultimately, the Council has concluded Mrs Y is receiving appropriate care from staff at the residential placement where she lives.
8. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation has followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decisions it made were right or wrong, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decisions the organisation has made.
9. There is nothing more we could add or achieve for Mrs X or Mrs Y by investigating this matter further. Other agencies, in this case the Court of Protection and Office of the Public Guardian, are better placed to consider outstanding matters relating to Mrs Y’s care, such as her residential care home placement. In the absence of evidence to show there has been procedural fault in the Council’s decision-making, we have no grounds under which to justify investigating this matter further. Mrs X’s disagreement with the Council’s findings is not evidence of fault.

Back to top

Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman