Summary: Mrs Y says the Council is failing to ensure her son’s care provision. We cannot investigate as this complaint falls outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y alleges the Council has failed to ensure her son is receiving care in line with his assessed needs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I have considered the complaint information provided by Mrs Y. I have also read the Council’s comments on the complaint.

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What I found

4. In summary, Mrs Y says the Council has failed to ensure her son has the care provision he needs urgently. She says she made mistakes on time sheets and the Council stopped paying her Direct Payments needed to purchase care.
5. The Council says this is being treated as a fraud issue and legal action is imminent. It confirms the Direct Payments have been cancelled. But says it proposed meeting Mr X’s needs with alternative care provision. It says this was been turned down by Mrs Y.
6. My final decision is the Ombudsman cannot investigate due to the complaint matters being subject to legal action. As outlined in paragraph two this places the complaint matters outside our jurisdiction.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman cannot investigate as the complaint matters lie outside our jurisdiction.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman