Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council dealt with him and Miss Y. The Ombudsman finds no fault in the way the Council dealt with the situation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complains on behalf of his relative Miss Y. Mr X says the Council:
• did not respond to adequately to her concerns;
• prevented her accessing mother’s finances when she has lasting power of attorney;
• did not carry out the s42 safeguarding enquiry adequately and found the allegation inconclusive not unsubstantiated.
• did not send her minutes of the meeting that she attended on 7 May 2019. She understood this was a best interests meeting about her mother;
• made inaccurate statements in the meeting on 7 May 2019, including that Miss Y was alcohol dependent and that her mother had a brain tumour;
• prevented her from visiting her mother before her 60th birthday.
2. Mr X says this caused Miss Y significant emotional and psychological impact and affected her wellbeing. She would like the Council to apologise and provide evidence of the reason for the allegation that she was alcohol dependent.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
5. 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). Miss Y has given her consent for Mr X to bring this complaint on her behalf.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information from the Complainant and from the Council.
7. I sent both parties a copy of my draft decision for comment and took account of the comments I received in response.

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What I found

Background

What happened

8. I am restricted from sharing the information I considered with Mr X and Miss Y. This is because it includes a safeguarding investigation and personal information about Miss Y’s mother, Ms Z, who has not consented to share her information. For this reason, I have not detailed here, all the events, or reasons for my findings.
9. Over ten years ago, Ms Z signed an enduring power of attorney in favour of Miss Y. However, this was not registered and therefore, at the time of the events complained about, was not valid. Miss Y was not authorised to access Mrs Y’s bank account. Ms Z had also, more recently, decided she did not want either Miss Y or Mr X to have any information about her finances. I found no fault in the way the Council dealt with this.
10. In May 2019, Miss Y complained that the Council had prevented her from seeing Ms Z. This was due to a misunderstanding by the care home and the Council soon confirmed it had placed no restrictions on Miss Y visiting. The Council understands Miss Y did visit Ms Z but anyway, I found no fault in the Council’s actions here.
11. The Council undertook a safeguarding enquiry because it received concerns of risk to Ms Z. It found the allegations inconclusive and did not provide Mr X and Miss Y with the information they requested about this. I found no fault in the Council’s actions here.
12. Miss Y and Mr X attended a meeting in a hospital about Ms Z. They had not previously met seven of the people who were also in attendance. A social worker stated that Miss Y was alcohol dependent several times. Miss Y asked for the evidence to support this allegation, but the Council did not provide her with any. Mr X asked for the minutes of the meeting but it did not provide these either. I also found no fault here.
13. In early December 2019, the Council wrote to Mr X to advise that it could not communicate with him because Ms Z had withheld her consent. Mr X wrote to the Council and said he wanted to appeal the outcome of the safeguarding investigation. The Council advised Mr X that it could not share the information he requested because it came from third parties in the context of a safeguarding enquiry. It also advised that it could not consider his appeal against the safeguarding enquiry outcome because he had provided no new information. It had delayed providing a response to Mr X’s complaint because the safeguarding enquiry had been in progress. I found no fault in the Council’s actions here.

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Final decision

14. I have completed my investigation and do not uphold Miss Y’s complaints that the Council:
• did not respond to adequately to her concerns;
• prevented her accessing mother’s finances when she has lasting power of attorney;
• did not carry out the s42 safeguarding enquiry adequately and found the allegation inconclusive not unsubstantiated.
• did not send her minutes of the meeting that she attended on 7 May 2019. She understood this was a best interests meeting about her mother;
• made inaccurate statements in the meeting on 7 May 2019, including that Miss Y was alcohol dependent;
• prevented her from visiting her mother before her 60th birthday.
15. As I found no fault, I make no recommendations.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman