Derby City Council (23 002 431)
Category : Adult care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Jun 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an Appointeeship because the Department for Work and Pensions are better placed to deal with the complaint, and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr Y is seeking.
The complaint
- Mr Y complained the Council arranged an appointeeship without his knowledge and is now in control of his finances.
- Mr Y says this has caused significant distress and he is now in financial difficulty because he cannot access money he is entitled to through benefits.
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:
- we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, 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 Mr Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- An appointeeship can be applied for through the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to allow a person or organisation such as a local council to have the right to deal with the benefits of someone who cannot manage their own affairs due to mental incapacity or severe disability.
- In this case, the Council became Mr Y’s appointee to deal with his benefits in XX. Mr Y’s desired outcome to our investigation is to have the appointeeship removed and to have money received through benefits paid directly to him. This is not an outcome the Ombudsman is able to either recommend or achieve through investigation of Mr Y’s complaint. Mr Y would need to ask the DWP to remove the Council’s appointeeship and show that he is able to manage his own affairs.
- As we cannot achieve the outcome Mr Y is seeking and the DWP can, the DWP is better placed to consider the Council’s appointeeship. We will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because the Department for Work and Pensions are better placed to deal with the complaint, and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr Y is seeking.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman