The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to her request for support to move her relative into its area. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Ms X complains the Council has refused to assist her to move her relative, Mr Y, into its area. She says this has caused distress and affected her 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
Ms X’s relative, Mr Y, lives in a different council area, Council B. Ms X asked the Council for support to move Mr Y to live with her, in its area.
In its complaint response, the Council said it had contacted Mr Y’s social worker at Council B to discuss her request. The social worker told the Council that Mr Y lacked capacity to decide where he should live. As he lacked capacity, it had made a best interests decision for Mr Y to live in his current placement, which was meeting his care and support needs. It said if Ms X disagreed with these decisions, she would need to approach Council B directly to challenge them.
We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has appropriately explained to Ms X why it cannot support her request and that it is not responsible for decisions related to Mr Y’s care. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman