Kent County Council (22 010 701)
Category : Adult care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 30 Nov 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the outcome of a Mental Capacity Assessment. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council completed the assessment to justify our involvement. The Court of Protection is best placed to make decisions on capacity.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained the Council incorrectly assessed her adult son, Mr Y, as having capacity to make decisions about his care and support needs. She believes that decision potentially places Mr Y at risk. She wants the Council to complete a new assessment.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council completed Mr Y’s mental capacity assessment. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council completed the assessment to justify our involvement.
- If Mrs X disagrees with the outcome of the Council’s assessment, she would need to challenge this through the Court of Protection. The Court of Protection decides whether a person has capacity to make particular decisions for themselves.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman