Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s allegations the Council has acted fraudulently and unlawfully in relation to his deceased mother-in-law’s care costs. This is because such complaints fall outside our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. Mr X alleges the Council has acted fraudulently and unlawfully in relation to care home charges for Mrs Y, who is now deceased. Mr X alleges the Council should not be pursuing Mrs Y’s estate for unpaid care home charges and has acted fraudulently when making payments on her behalf. Mr X says he cannot deal with Mrs Y’s estate until the Council either takes action or withdraws its claim against the estate. He wants us to investigate his complaint of fraud against the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X alleges the Council has acted fraudulently in seeking to claim over £15,000 from Mrs Y’s estate for care home fees. He believes the Council has acted unlawfully and it should either pursue the debt with executors of Mrs Y’s estate or confirm it has withdrawn its claim against the estate.
7. The Council has explained it cannot deal with Mr X as he is not an executor to Mrs Y’s estate. It is for Mr X to provide evidence to the Council that he has permission from the executors to act on their behalf.
8. The validity of any claims the Council may have against Mrs Y’s estate are matters for the court to determine. We have no remit to become involved in such issues. Any allegations Mr X may have of fraud by the Council are matters for the police as we have no jurisdiction to investigate criminal offences.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The concerns he has are matters for the courts or the police.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman