Summary: Mrs X complains about a musician playing live music outside a local care home during lockdown. She is unhappy with the Council’s investigation into this. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has not sustained a personal injustice and she does not have consent from the care home residents to complain on their behalf.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about a musician playing live music outside a local care home during lockdown, which she believes was a breach of Government rules in force at the time. She says the care home was wrong to blame the local hospital for the outbreak of Covid-19 amongst the residents. She believes the outbreak was caused by the residents sitting too close to one another and care staff not using personal protective equipment. Mrs X is unhappy with the Council’s investigation into her concerns.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. This complaint involves events that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government introduced a range of new and frequently updated rules and guidance during this time. We can consider whether the council followed the relevant legislation, guidance and our published “Principles of Good Administrative Practice during Covid”.
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:

• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or

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

4. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered comments and information from Mrs X and the Council. I considered Mrs X’s comments on draft decision before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

6. The restrictions outlined in paragraphs two and three apply to this complaint:
• Mrs X complains as a concerned citizen, not as a resident or relative of someone who lives in the care home. She has no obvious connection to the care home. There is no evidence that Mrs X sustained a significant and direct personal injustice in this matter.
• Mrs X does not have consent from the care home residents to complain on their behalf.
7. For these reasons there are no grounds for the Ombudsman to investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because Mrs X has not sustained a significant and direct personal injustice in this matter and she does not have consent from the care home residents to complain on their behalf.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman