Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint, made on behalf of Mrs Y, about the Council’s pursuit of care fee charges from several years ago. The Council has taken the matter to court and received orders allowing it to place a charge on Mrs Y’s property to recover the debt. We cannot investigate the complaint because the law prohibits us from investigating complaints about the start of court action and what happened in court.

The complaint

1. Mr X is Mrs Y’s brother. He complains on her behalf that the Council has unfairly pursued payment for care provision, of which Mrs Y has no recollection, and been granted a charge on her property by the courts.
2. Mr X says that at the time of the claimed care provision, Mrs Y was vulnerable and not in the right frame of mind to have agreed to it. He says he has not seen a care agreement signed by Mrs Y. Mr X says letters relating to the charges are causing Mrs Y huge distress at a time when she is already going through great personal trauma. He says the charge on her property is causing her upset and worry. Mr X wants the Council to remove the charge from Mrs Y’s house, waive all the care fees and investigate the care plans.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council has sought payment of a debt it considered Mrs Y owed for care fees accrued in 2014 and for a period between 2016 and 2017. Officers say Mrs Y acknowledged the debt when the Council pursued the matter by making some repayments. The Council sought and won a County Court judgement in 2021 that Mrs Y owed the money. When Mrs Y did not clear the debt, the Council asked the courts in 2022 to issue a Charging Order against her property. The court granted that order, which means that when Mrs Y’s property is sold, the Council will receive the monies from the sale proceeds.
7. We recognise Mr X is disputing the care fees from several years ago. He considers Mrs Y would not have been able to consent to the care provision or would not have understood the fees involved at those times. But the courts have already considered the question of Mrs Y’s liability for the care fee debt. The courts have considered the evidence, have been satisfied that Mrs Y is liable for the debt, and have issued their legal orders. The law which grants us our powers, the 1974 Local Government Act, prevents us from investigating this complaint. This is because it prohibits us from investigating matters which have been before a court and what happened in that court. This means we cannot investigate the issue of the debt the Council has pursued, so will not do so.
8. An Ombudsman investigation cannot go behind the courts’ decisions that Mrs Y is liable for the care fees. The courts’ authority as a legal body takes precedence over any decision by this office. If Mrs Y wants to overturn the earlier court decisions, she would need to take that case back to another court. Only a fresh legal ruling can quash or amend a previous court ruling. Mrs Y may wish to seek her own independent legal advice should she consider taking that route.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint made on Mrs Y’s behalf because we cannot investigate matters which have been before the courts and what happened in those courts.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman