Worcestershire County Council (24 012 143)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Jan 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s management of Mr C’s money. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council. The Court appointed the Council to manage Mr C’s money and only the Court can change that arrangement.
The complaint
- Mr C says the Council has taken away his free choice by giving him a bank card that he cannot use on things he wishes, such as a dating site. Mr C also thinks he should be allowed to manage his own money. Mr C feels unhappy.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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
- we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr C and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Court of Protection decided Mr C needed someone to manage his money. The Ombudsman has no powers to challenge decisions made by the Court. Mr C would need to go back to the Court of Protection for it to decide if he can manage his own money. Meanwhile, there is no fault in the Council managing Mr C’s money.
- The Council agrees the bank card has limits. It is working with Mr C to find a way for him to still access things like the dating site. The Council suggested it could transfer money into Mr C’s bank account for him to spend on the dating site.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman