Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council supported Mr Y with his living arrangements. We could not add anything further to the Council’s investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained on behalf of his brother Mr Y. He is unhappy with the steps the Council took after Mr Y’s shared lives carer gave notice on Mr Y’s placement. Mr X complained specifically about two social workers. He said they:
• Completed unarranged visits to see Mr Y at the day service he attended. Mr X said these visits were unsuitable given Mr Y’s learning disability.
• Took Mr Y to visit a house, despite Mr Y previously stating he did not want to go. Mr X said the Social Worker took Mr Y for lunch first to influence his behaviour.
• Did not listen to Mr Y’s friends and family when making decisions about Mr Y’s care placement.
• Sent bullying and threatening emails about Mr Y’s travel expenses. And made a comment to Mr X which he considered abusive.
2. Mr X said the Council’s actions has caused distress to Mr Y and his family. Mr X wants the Council to accept it was at fault. He also believes the Social Workers involved should not remain in post.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. In the Council’s response to Mr X’s complaint is said:
• The social workers did visit the day service Mr Y attended, however, this was to see other adults, for staff meetings and staff supervision. It said on one occasion Mr Y had wanted to speak to one of the social workers whilst they were there, and the social worker had spent time with him. However, the Council said it had not intentionally held unarranged visits with Mr X.
• It wanted to ensure it supported Mr Y to understand the different accommodation options available to him after his shared lives placement ended. It said Mr Y’s Social Worker was aware that Mr Y was reluctant to visit the house and sought advice from colleagues about how to engage him. It was suggested they take Mr Y for a meal.
• It had reviewed Mr Y’s case records and was satisfied that the family’s views were reflected. It said it had not allowed the previous or newly proposed shared lives workers to attend a best-interests meeting about Mr Y’s living arrangements as they had a financial interest in one of the potential options.
• It apologised for the content of the email exchanged between Mr X and the Social Worker. It said it had discussed it with the relevant officer. It said the comment made by the Social Worker to Mr X was not intended to be abusive. The Social Worker apologised for this.
7. Although Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s complaint response, we will not investigate this complaint. That is because:
• The Council has explained why the social workers attended the day service and the reasons they took Mr X for lunch. We would not be critical of the Council supporting Mr Y to understand the different living options available to him. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our investigating.
• The Council has explained why the shared lives carers were not invited to the best interest meeting. There is insufficient evidence of fault in how it made that decision to justify our involvement.
• The Council has apologised for the content of email exchanges between Mr X and the Social Worker. The Social Worker has apologised to Mr X for the comment they made. I am satisfied these apologies remedies any injustice caused to Mr X.
• Mr X believes the Social Workers should no-longer be in post. That is not an outcome the Ombudsman can achieve.
8. Therefore, we could not add anything further to the Council’s investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not add anything further to the Council’s investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman