Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the safeguarding of her late mother Mrs Y. We have already investigated the substantive matters that she complains of so this is an invalid complaint. It is reasonable for Ms X to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if she believes the Council has breached data protection legislation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to properly safeguard her later mother Mrs Y, when she was a resident in two care homes between 2015 - 2017. She said Mrs Y suffered institutional abuse at the care homes. Ms X said the Council acted maliciously towards her and that affected the care it provided Mrs Y.
2. Ms X said the Council did not safeguard her and her daughter, from her brother Mr Q in 2017. She said it had shared personal information about her to a legal firm (the Firm) that was representing Mr Q. She said the Firm had shared that information with Mr Q.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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 another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
5. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
6. We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
9. Ms X had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered her comments before making a final decision.

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My assessment

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about institutional abuse at the care home where Mrs Y lived between 2015 and 2017 or, about the actions of Council officers. We have previously investigated and issued a decision on Ms X’s complaint about the safeguarding of Mrs Y whilst at the care homes. Any complaint about the wider actions of Council Officers behaviour is directly linked to our previous investigation. Therefore, this is an invalid complaint.
11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council failed to safeguard her from Mr Q in 2017. That is because the events happened six years ago therefore this complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise my discretion and consider it now.
12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council disclosed personal information about her to the Firm. The Information Commissioner’s Office is best placed to deal with complaints about data protection.
13. We have no jurisdiction to investigate Ms X’s concerns about the Firm sharing information with her sibling.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we have previously considered the substantive matters, she complains of. The Information Commissioner’s Office is best placed to deal with complaints about data protection.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman