Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the conduct of Council officers. An Ombudsman investigation would not lead to a different outcome and there is not enough evidence of fault. Also, we cannot achieve the outcome Mr B wants.

The complaint

1. Mr B complained about the conduct of Adult Social Care staff including his allocated social worker. He says various staff members have been rude, shout at him and are dishonest. Mr B also says that staff members do not answer his calls or those made on his behalf. Mr B would like a new allocated social worker.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr B says that staff have treated him badly and have been rude. The Council has reviewed the staff members’ email communications and records of discussion with him. It has not been able to identify any evidence that they have engaged in any unprofessional manner towards Mr B. He also says that a member of staff shouted at him during a visit. The Council says this was a joint visit and the other person who attended has said this did not happen.
6. I recognise that Mr B perceives Adult Social Care staff to have been rude, but we cannot make a finding on perceptions. We can only make an objective decision on the evidence available. This shows there are clearly different versions of events about the incidents that occurred. It is therefore unlikely we could add anything to the Council's response or achieve a different outcome. If Mr B has new evidence about communication with staff which the Council has not seen, he can send it for the Council’s attention.
7. Mr B also says that a councillor contacted a member of staff about his case and they did not respond. On another occasion, Mr B says he called the Council and it did not return his call. The Council has said in its response there is no record of the Councillor making contact. The phone number Mr B used was someone in an unrelated department and they were not in work. The Council has given Mr B the number for the Adult Social Care contact centre should he need to make contact in the future. So, while I understand Mr B’s frustrations, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council. We could not criticise it for failing to respond to requests it did not receive.
8. Even if we did investigate, we could not achieve the outcome Mr B wants. Mr B would like a new social worker to be allocated. But we cannot tell the Council where to allocate its staff. An investigation is not therefore appropriate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint. This is because an Ombudsman investigation would not lead to a different outcome and there is not enough evidence of fault. Also, we cannot achieve the outcome Mr B wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman