Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to communicate with him about his mother’s care. We will not investigate the complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to communicate with him about his mother’s care. He says as a result of the failure he is worried, and has deteriorating mental and physical health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s responses to him through its complaints procedure.
4. Mr X had an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X’s mother has dementia and the Council is involved with her care. Mr X does not live with her. He said he did not trust the Council to act in his mother’s best interests.
6. Mr X asked the Council to involve him as one of the people it consults about his mother’s care and to give him information about her mental capacity. He asked for a meeting with officers so he could understand what care his mother needed and how best he could work with the Council to ensure she was properly looked after.
7. The Council responded by saying his mother had asked for him to be directed back to her if he wanted to discuss anything about her current situation. Because of his mother’s request it would not provide the information he asked for or hold the suggested meeting. The Council assured Mr X there were no current concerns about his mother’s support. The Council said it would continue to redirect him back to his mother as she requested until she advised otherwise or a necessity to act differently arose.
8. While Mr X’s mother continues to want Mr X to contact her for information and not get information from the Council, the Council has to abide by her wishes. As a result, it is unlikely any investigation by us would find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman