The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council has not dealt with his complaint about adult safeguarding. The Council is waiting for court proceedings to conclude before investigating. There is not enough evidence of fault in how it reached that decision to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to safeguard his mother, Mrs Y, from his father, Mr Y. He said that placed both himself, and Mrs Y at risk. He said the Council also failed to involve him in decision making around Mr Y’s care. Mr X said the Council had not responded to his complaint because the Court of Protection was considering some matters linked to the complaint. He said the delay in addressing the complaint was affecting his mental health.
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.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has written to Mr X and confirmed it will consider his complaint once the Court process is complete. It has explained its reasons for this in its letter to him.
Although Mr X is unhappy with that decision, we will not investigate. We would not be critical of the Council wanting court proceedings to conclude before it addresses the complaint. It has explained why this is necessary and there is not enough evidence of fault in how it made that decision to justify our involvement. Once Mr X has completed the Council’s complaint process, he can return to us if he is unhappy with the outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is appropriate to allow the Court of Protection to conclude before the Council investigates. Mr X can return to the Ombudsman if he is unhappy with the outcome of that investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman