Summary: Ms D complained about the Council’s handling of her concerns regarding the behaviour of residents and staff at a care home next to her home. This included trespass, items thrown into her garden and residents’ welfare. We found no fault in the process the Council followed to investigate and mitigate her concerns as part of its adult social care and safeguarding role. The Council was not the body responsible for investigating anti-social behaviour, we cannot therefore consider this further.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms D, complained about the Council’s handling of her concerns regarding the actions and behaviour of residents in a care home near her home. She said the Council had failed to take enough action to keep her family safe from trespassing, items being thrown in her garden, and foul language.
2. Ms D also raised safeguarding concerns about the welfare of residents within the care home.
3. Ms D said, as a result, she and her family had experienced distress and was unable to enjoy their garden.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. Part 3 and Part 3A of the Local Government Act 1974 give us our powers to investigate adult social care complaints. Part 3 is for complaints where local councils provide services themselves. It also applies where a council arranges or commissions care services from a provider, even if the council charges the person receiving the care. In these cases, we treat the provider’s actions as if they were council actions. Part 3A is for complaints about care bought directly from a care provider by the person who needs it or their representative, and includes care funded privately or with direct payments using a personal budget. (Part 3 and Part 3A Local Government Act 1974; section 25(6) & (7) of the Act)
6. 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/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
7. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
8. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

9. As part of my investigation, I have:
• considered Ms D’s complaint and the Council’s responses;
• discussed the complaint with Ms D and considered the information she provided;
• considered the information the Council provided in response to my enquiries; and
• considered the relevant law and guidance to the complaint.
10. Ms D and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Safeguarding

11. A council must make enquiries if it thinks a person may be at risk of abuse or neglect and has care and support needs which mean the person cannot protect themselves. An enquiry is the action taken by a council in response to a concern about abuse or neglect. An enquiry could range from a conversation with the person who is the subject of the concern, to a more formal multi-agency arrangement. A council must also decide whether it or another person or agency should take any action to protect the person from abuse. (section 42, Care Act 2014)
12. Statutory guidance explains safeguarding duties apply to an adult who:
• has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs);
• is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect; and
• as a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect. (Care and Support Statutory Guidance, paragraph 14.2)
13. The Council has a detailed adult safeguarding policy that reflects the relevant law and guidance.

What happened

14. Ms D lives with her family in their home which has a garden in a quiet area. Next to her home is a property with a garden, which is used by a small Care Home (the Care Home) for individuals with support needs including mental health issues.
15. In Autumn 2022 Ms D complained to the Council about the Care Home. She said:
• a resident in the Care Home had been throwing heavy items and food over a fence into her garden. She said this was a risk to her children and dog;
• the resident had climbed over the fence and into her garden several times;
• there was noise from shouting, window banging and other sounds from the Care Home, including early in the morning. Much of the noise related to the same resident; and
• she had concerns over the treatment and wellbeing of residents in the Care Home.
16. Ms D told the Council she had previously reported the issues to the Care Home and the Police. This had not resolved the issues. She said, although the staff at the Care Home had apologised, she was never informed about the actions it had taken or intended to take to stop the behaviours.
17. Shortly after, the Council started investigating Ms D’s concerns. This included:
• informing the Care Home about Ms D’s concerns and asking it to investigate. It then considered the Care Home’s response;
• considering Council records about the residents it had commissioned to reside at the Care Home; and
• discussing Ms D’s concerns with her.
18. In response to Ms D’s complaint, the Council told her it had upheld her complaint. It explained it understood incidents had been occurring during the last four years which had been reported to the Care Home and Police. The Council had also been involved in some safeguarding incidents which had been investigated and concluded with learning implemented to improve practices within the Care Home. It explained it would continue to work with the Care Home when safeguarding concerns were raised, but Ms D should complain to the Care Home about any other issues as it was not managed by the Council.
19. The Council’s Commissioning Team visited the Care Home shortly after. It reviewed its policies, staffing levels against individual resident’s support plans, incident reporting and quality assurance, safety and security processes for residents, and auditing. It also considered the Care Home’s responses and actions taken to incident reports it received from neighbours, including Ms D. It was satisfied with the way the Care Home was run and the steps it had taken to resolve concerns.
20. In Autumn 2023 Ms D again reported concerns to the Care Home. She said the same resident had jumped over the fence into her garden whilst undressed. She also raised ongoing issues about noise from the resident and foul language.
21. The Care Home informed the Council about the complaint it had received. It told the Council the resident had the support and staffing levels required in his support plan, and staff did their best to challenge foul language. It had apologised for the incidents to Ms D and offered to install a net to prevent climbing over the fence, which Ms D had declined.
22. Ms D also called the Council to report her concerns but did not leave her contact details.
23. The Council told the Care Home it should respond to Ms D’s complaint and inform her about the Council’s complaints process. It also visited the Care Home to review the residents support and whether further steps could be put in place to mitigate the behaviours.
24. Ms D asked the Ombudsman to consider her complaint about the Council’s handling of her concerns. She believes it has not done enough to stop the incidents and anti-social behaviour from the Care Home.
25. Ms D reported a further issue to the Care Home and the Ombudsman in September 2023, which related to a heavy item being thrown by the same resident into her garden which hit her dog. She said shouting and foul language is continuing.
26. In response to my enquiries the Council explained:
• it is not the landlord for the Care Home, nor is it the body responsible for investigating anti-social behaviour in the area. Such issues should therefore be reported to the local council;
• it was responsible for adult social care and safeguarding. It shared its considerations and outcomes of care planning and safeguarding concerns relating to the Care Home, which included to the resident causing Ms D most concern; and
• it could not share further information about its outcomes or care planning regarding residents at the Care Home with Ms D for data protection reasons.

Analysis and findings

27. Ms D’s complaint relates to incidents which has occurred at the Care Home over the last four years, which is more than 12 months before it was brought to our attention. Part of her complaint is therefore late, and she did not complain to the Council until Autumn 2022. I can therefore only consider the Council’s handling of her concerns from August 2022.
28. In addition, Ms D complained about the Council’s handling of anti-social behaviour from the Care Home. However, as the Council does not run the Care Home and it is not the body responsible for investigating anti-social behaviour, I cannot consider its handling of this part of her complaint.

Council’s Adult Social Care role

29. The Council commissioned the Care Home to support residents in line with their care and support plans. This meant the Council remained responsible for the care and support its residents at the Care Home received.
30. I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council handled the concerns it received from Ms D. This is because the evidence shows each time the Council received a concern from Ms D, other neighbours, or the Care Home, it:
• reviewed residents’ care and support plans. This included reviews with input multi-disciplinary teams of risk, placements, care needs, and best interest decisions. It put additional support in place and offered suggestions to the Care Home how to manage the concerns it received;
• considered the Care Home’s policies, practices and procedures through its commissioning role to ensure its residents were appropriately supported and monitored;
• considered each safeguarding concern it received, including Ms D’s concern about the welfare of residents within the Care Home. However, based on the evidence it received and the information it held about residents in the Care Home, it found further enquiries were not necessary;
• worked with the Care Home to limit risk for and from residents, and were satisfied with the actions it took; and
• discussed Ms D’s concerns with her and responded to her complaint about the incidents, behaviours, and safeguarding concerns. It upheld Ms D’s complaint as it was satisfied, she had experienced incidents and poor behaviours, but it found it had done what it could do to mitigate the concerns for which it was responsible.
31. I understand Ms D’s frustrations includes the limited information shared with her by the Care Home and the Council since she started reporting the issues and her concerns. There are limits to what information the Council was allowed to share with Ms D due to the data protection rights of residents within the Care Home. If Ms D believes the Council should share more information, she can raise her concerns with the Information Commissioner (ICO) which is best placed to consider such matters.
32. The Ombudsman can investigate complaints about private care homes. I understand Ms D has complained to the Care Home about its handling of her concerns, she can therefore consider bringing a new complaint to our attention.
33. Also, Ms D can raise her concerns about anti-social behaviour from the Care Home with her local council, which is the body responsible for investigating such complaints in her area.

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Final decision

34. I have completed my investigation with a finding of no fault in the process the Council followed to investigate her adult social care and safeguarding concerns.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman