Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s responses to safeguarding allegations made both by and against the complainant. This is because we are unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions in relation to her, and she does not have consent to bring a complaint or share data relating to the other person involved in this matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Ms X, says that:
• The Council unfairly referred false allegations made against her by a carer, C, to the police;
• The Council has not investigated and responded properly to allegations that Ms X raised against C;
• Ms X’s complaint was not properly investigated.

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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’. 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:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, 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 considered the information provided by Ms X. I have also sent Ms X a draft decision for her comments.

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What I found

6. Ms X was accused of stealing from her friend, F, by a carer, C, who works at the Care Home where F is a resident.
7. The allegation was passed to the Council’s safeguarding, and then on to the police.
8. Ms X denied the accusation, and made a complaint about the Council’s handling of it. She also made allegations about C.
9. We will not investigate this part of the complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions. When it receives safeguarding concerns, it must investigate them, and it must pass the matter to the police if criminal accusations are made. Although Ms X complains she has not had a response, this is because the matter rests with the police.
10. Ms X also says that she has not had a response to the allegations she made. She says further that the Care Provider did not adhere to its complaints policy in the response that it did provide.
11. We cannot investigate any complaint on behalf of F, and we cannot process or share his data. This is because Ms X does not have consent to complaint on behalf of F. Although Ms X asserts that F is not capable of providing consent, there is no evidence to support this assertion. In any case, we would be unlikely to consider Ms X as an appropriate person to represent F as the allegation of financial abuse by Ms X, gives her an interest in the outcome.
12. We will not investigate Ms X’s further complaint about the lack of a response to the allegations that she made against C. Although the Care Provider and the Council had a duty to consider those allegations as safeguarding concerns, they remain unable to share the outcomes, as they cannot disclose any personal data relating to F with Ms X.
13. Ms X is also unhappy with the Care Provider’s response to her complaint. Although she has the right to take this to the Council, as the body responsible for the funding of F’s care, we will not investigate this element of the case. This is because it is not generally a good use of our funding to look at complaint handling where we are not considering the substantive matter. Additionally we would be unlikely to be able to add anything to the response that Ms X has previously received.

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Final decision

14. Subject to any comments Ms X might make, my view is we should not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions with regard to herself, and we cannot accept a complaint from her on behalf of F.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman