Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms A’s complaint about the actions taken by the Council regarding her son’s, Mr B’s, care and support needs. This is because there is no evidence of fault causing an injustice to either Ms A or Mr B warranting an Ombudsman investigation and any further investigation by the Ombudsman could not add to the Council’s responses or make a different finding of the kind Ms A wants.

The complaint

1. Ms A complains that the Council:
• used misleading information to gain entry to her house to update Mr B’s care plan;
• used misleading information to block her right as a carer to raise concerns and complaints;
• issued three assessments -all containing mistakes and false information
• sent out the care plan containing blank pages;
• referred to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Court of Protection (CoP) without fully explaining them;
• failed to share information with her;
• restricted her access with it.
• Discriminated, harassed and victimised her and Mr B.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information and documentation Ms A and the Council provided. I sent Ms A a copy of my draft decision and considered the additional documentation she sent.

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What I found

5. Ms A complains about matters dating back to 2010. The Ombudsman will not investigate these complaints. This is because Ms A complained to the Ombudsman in 2017 about the care and support she and her son, Mr B, received from the Council. The Ombudsman investigated these matters and exercised his discretion to investigate complaints dating back to 2013. The Ombudsman will not now consider complaints dating back to 2010. Ms A had an Ombudsman investigation and decision in 2018 and there is no good reason to exercise his discretion further to investigate matters predating this decision.
6. Ms A complains that the Council used misleading information to gain entry to her house to update Mr B’s care plan. The Council’s response to Ms A says it advised her of the date and time of meeting, she had an advocate present at meeting, and it sent a letter the following day advising of actions it had taken following meeting. The Ombudsman could not say this is fault or make a different finding even if he investigated.
7. Ms A complains the Council used misleading information to block her right as a carer to raise concerns and complaints. The Council’s response says it has had several contacts with Ms A about her wanting Mr B’s assessment to be completed by the Autism team. The Council has explained the Autism team is unable to accept any more referrals but says Mr B’s needs will be assessed to include any needs arising from his autism and will not affect the support offered. The Council says Ms A’s views were considered at the meeting in October and she was sent a copy of updated /amended plan reflecting her views. It says Ms A wanted direct payments to be able to choose care and support for Mr B, but has not used any of the direct payments in the account. The Council said it can provide direct care and support for Mr B if Ms A does not want to arrange Mr B’s care. The Ombudsman could not say this is fault or make a different finding even if he investigated. Ms A can either use the direct payments allocated to Mr B as she wanted, or if she does not want this option, ask the Council to provide Mr B with the care he has been assessed as needing.

8. Ms A complains that the Council issued three assessment, all containing mistakes and false information. The Council says mistakes referred to have been updated/amended. It explained the only plan it will consider is latest one dated October 2018 and will not go back over old ones. It acknowledges Ms A has been to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) regarding her concerns about incorrect data contained in assessments. The Ombudsman could not add to this or make a different finding even if he investigated. The ICO will advise what, if any, actions the Council should take regarding incorrect records.

9. Ms A complains about blank pages in Mr B’s printed assessment. The Council confirmed the pages are blank and says this was because of transfer to a new system. It apologised to Ms A for any concerns she has about the blank pages. The Ombudsman could not add to this or make a different finding even if he investigated.

10. Ms A complains about the Council’s reference to DoLS and the CoP. The Council explained the high level of support Mr B requires may be a deprivation of his liberty and it will need to assess his capacity to ensure he understands what is happening. The Council apologised if Ms A was concerned about the reference. The Ombudsman could not say this is fault or make a different finding even if he investigated.
11. Ms A complains the Council is not sharing information with her about Mr B. The Council says Mr B has been assessed as lacking capacity to understand decisions it makes about him, but Ms A, as his representative and carer can advocate on his behalf. It says until a full mental health capacity assessment is completed it will share information with her as his advocate. The Ombudsman could not add to this or make a different finding even if he investigated.

12. Ms A complains about access and says she and Mr B have been discriminated against, victimised and harassed by the Council. The Council says restricted access was put in place on 13 December 2018. It says this was to ensure concerns, enquiries and requests she makes are dealt with effectively and efficiently. The Council explained it will not investigate or discuss historic matters with Ms A. The Ombudsman could not say Ms A has incurred any significant injustice from having restricted access to the Council. She can contact it regarding any current concerns she has about Mr B’s care needs.

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Final decision

13. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because any further investigation by the Ombudsman could not add to the Council’s responses or make a different finding of the kind Ms A wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman