Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that the Council has refused to answer her complaint about her daughter’s placement. This is because we could not achieve the outcome Mrs B is seeking by investigating her complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs B, complained that the Council has refused to answer her complaint about her daughter’s placement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered the information Mrs B provided and spoken to her by telephone.

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What I found

4. Mrs B complained to the Council about its placement of her adult daughter. She expressed her concern and asked the Council what was happening.
5. In its reply to Mrs B’s complaint the Council said it would need her daughter’s prior authorisation. Without this the Council said it could not register Mrs B’s concerns or respond to her detailing its intervention or assessment of her daughter. Having looked into the matter, the Council said it was not currently possible to get Mrs B’s daughter’s informed consent to Mrs B pursuing a complaint about her daughter’s service.
6. Mrs B did not complain to us on behalf of her daughter. She complained in her own right. She said she had asked the Council for information on its decision- making process and rationale for its placement. She said she had not asked for information about her daughter or her present circumstances. Mrs B told us she wants the Council to help her daughter.
7. The Council must protect the personal data it holds securely. It did not have the consent of Mrs B’s daughter to share her personal information with Mrs B. It was not fault for the Council to refuse to respond to Mrs B’s complaint if, in order to explain the rationale for its decision, it would have to have referred to the personal information it holds about her daughter.
8. To put things right Mrs B wants the Council to give her an answer to her concern about its decision-making process and rationale for its action. In order to explain why it reached its decision, the Council would need to make some reference to the personal circumstances of Mrs B’s daughter. It could not release that personal information to Mrs B or another third party without consent. So we could not achieve the outcome Mrs B is seeking by investigating her complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we could not achieve the outcome Mrs B is seeking by investigating her complaint.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman