Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions with respect to Miss X’s late relative, Mr Y. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is insufficient evidence to indicate Miss X is a suitable person to raise complaints on Mr Y’s behalf given there was a registered attorney in place.

The complaint

1. Miss X has concerns about staff contact with her late relative Mr Y. She queries why social workers did not get Mr Y assessed at a memory clinic. She also seeks information on why a safeguarding alert was not taken further.
2. Miss X says she was not in contact with her relative for many years and feels she was denied an opportunity to make contact.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable.
  (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

My assessment

7. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 introduced the “Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)”. An LPA is a legal document, which allows a person (‘the donor’) to choose one or more persons to make decisions for them, when they become unable to do so themselves. The 'attorney' or ‘donee’ is the person chosen to make a decision on the donor’s behalf. Any decision has to be in the donor’s best interests.
8. There are two types of LPA.

• Property and Finance LPA – this gives the attorney(s) the power to make decisions about the person's financial and property matters, such as selling a house or managing a bank account. Unless the donor says otherwise, the attorney may make all decisions about the donor’s property and finance even when the donor still has capacity to make those decisions.
• Health and Welfare LPA – this gives the attorney(s) the power to make decisions about the person's health and personal welfare, such as day-to-day care, medical treatment, or where they should live.

An attorney or donor must register an LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian before the attorney can make decisions for the donor.

9. In the Council’s response to Miss X’s complaint, it outlines the contact it had with Mr Y in some detail. It also confirms a third party had been noted on its records as Mr Y’s ‘next of kin’ since 2010. The Council advised the third party held a lasting power of attorney to represent Mr Y for both welfare and finance matters before he died. And, that Mr Y had confirmed to the Council several times that he had no contact with his immediate family and was happy with the support provided by the next of kin.
10. In the above circumstances I do not consider Miss X to be a suitable person to bring a complaint on behalf of her late relative. I appreciate she is seeking closure and information but that is not a good enough reason for us to investigate.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence to indicate that she is a suitable person to bring a complaint concerning Mr Y.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman