Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s mismanagement of an Adult Social Care case which concerns his deceased friend. The Ombudsman cannot investigate the concerns Mr X has raised on behalf of his deceased friend as he does not have authority to act on her behalf. The complaints he has made about his own treatment by the Council fall outside our jurisdiction and will not be investigated.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s mismanagement of his deceased friend’s Adult Social Care case. He says it has not properly investigated the complaint he made on his own and her behalf and that it has reinforced the allegation of fraud made against him by a third party and has failed to provide him with the information he requested under the FOI Act.

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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 may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended

4. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr X and gave him the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

7. In 2018 Mr X contacted the Council with his concerns about the welfare of an elderly couple who were his neighbours, Mr and Mrs B. As they were in poor health, both were removed from their home with Mr B receiving medical care and Mrs B being placed into a care home. Mr B subsequently died.
8. Mr X contacted the Council in November 2018 to get an update on Mrs B’s case. In March 2019, he, and other friends of Mrs B, wrote to the Council with concerns about the care home she was living in and asking if a safeguarding investigation had been undertaken. Mr X was also concerned about allegations made against him by a relative of Mrs B.
9. In October 2019 Mr X submitted an FOI request and in June 2020 he made a formal complaint to the Council about issues concerning Mrs B and himself. While the Council told him his complaint was out of time, it responded to the various points he had raised.
10. In response to his FOI request, the Council told him the only information it held on him was the information he had provided. It explained it could not give him information about Mrs B’s case and that as it was the subject of a court case there were limitations as to the information it could share. It told him the initial concern he had raised in 2018 had been progressed to a section 42 safeguarding enquiry, the outcome of which was unsubstantiated and it apologised this had not been communicated to him at the time as it should have been. It made clear that it would not be involved in his claims that he had been libelled by Mrs B’s relative nor could it give him information about this person’s application for deputyship and next of kin for Mrs B.

Assessment

11. Mr X says he wants to complain about the Council’s treatment of Mrs B while she was in its care. However, we cannot accept him as a suitable representative as he does not act formally for Mrs B.
12. In relation to Mr X’s own complaint against the Council, it responded appropriately to the issues he raised. He has been told it holds no information on him other than what he provided and if he is dissatisfied with this response, he can contact the Information Commissioner. As he has appeal rights to the First Tier Tribunal which we would reasonably expect him to make use of, this matter falls outside our jurisdiction. The Council is not responsible for the actions of a third party and it is open to Mr X to pursue his libel claim against the relative if he so wishes.
13. While I note the Council’s acknowledgement and apology for not having updated Mr X about the outcome of the s42 investigation, this is not a matter we would investigate in isolation and as it is nearly two years on from the events complained about it falls outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time.

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Final decision

14. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Ombudsman cannot investigate the concerns Mr X has raised on behalf of his deceased friend as he does not have authority to act on her behalf and the complaints he has made about his own treatment by the Council fall outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman