Summary: We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about money taken by the Council from Mrs D’s account. This is because the Council has apologised, written off Mrs D’s remaining debt and paid Ms B £100 for the time and trouble she had in pursuing the complaint. We are satisfied the injustice has been remedied.

The complaint

1. Ms B complained the Council fraudulently took money from her late mother’s, Mrs D’s, bank account, abused its role as deputy in 2015, used its powers to influence the Court of Protection, misdiagnosed Mrs D and wrongly assessed her needs. Ms B wants the Council to apologise, investigate her concerns about giving covert medication, limit the Council’s power on accessing health records, admit it wrongly took Mrs B’s funds and return all money taken.

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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’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the NHS. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Some of Ms B’s complaints are late. We will not exercise discretion to investigate these late complaints now as Ms B could have come to us sooner. Some of Ms B’s complaints have been before a court. We cannot consider any matters which have been decided in a court. Sadly Mrs D has passed away so we cannot provide a remedy for any injustice to her caused by fault uncovered during an investigation relating to Ms B’s assertion Mrs D was wrongly assessed or given covert medication. Ms B says Mrs D was wrongly diagnosed. Health care professionals diagnose conditions. We cannot consider complaints about health care providers.
8. The Council considered Ms B’s complaint about taking funds from Mrs D’s bank account in July 2021. It explained staff in the Debt Recovery Team were instructed to recover Mrs D’s outstanding care charges and wrongly assumed the Council was still her court appointed deputy. It transferred the balance in her account of £2,458.37 to offset her care debt, which was in arrears by £2,889.34. The Council apologised for the mistake and acknowledged the hurt and distress caused to Ms B. It explained it is reviewing its internal processes for service improvements to minimise the risk of a similar occurrence happening again in the future. In addition, it agreed to write off Mrs D’s residual debt. The Council apologised it did not consider Ms B’s complaint in October 2021 when she initially raised it and awarded her £100 for the time and trouble she incurred in pursuing it.
9. We are satisfied an apology, payment of £100 for the time and trouble Ms B has been put to in pursuing her complaint, service improvements and Mrs D’s remaining debt written off remedies the injustice caused by the fault. We will not investigate further.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint because we are satisfied with the actions taken by the Council. There is no unremedied injustice warranting an ombudsman investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman