Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to keep him informed about his mother’s health, giving the keys to his mother’s property to another council without telling him, and taking away the opportunity for him to say goodbye to his mother. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to keep him informed about his mother’s health, gave the keys to mother’s property to another council without telling him, and took away the opportunity for him to say goodbye to his mother.

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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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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 and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X’s mother, Mrs Z, privately funded a placement in a care home. Mr X is unhappy the Council failed to share information with him about Mrs Z’s health and failed to give him the opportunity to say goodbye to his mother before she died.
6. The Council is only responsible for the actions of a care provider if they commissioned the placement. In this case, the Council confirmed that Mrs Z was a self-funder who paid privately for her placement at the care home. While the Council did not clarify if it commissioned the placement, it seems unlikely on balance it did as the Council confirmed it was not involved in Mrs Z’s care and support.
7. Therefore, any complaints about how the care home shared information about Mrs Z’s health and taking away the opportunity for him to say goodbye is for the care provider to respond to.
8. Nevertheless, there is clear evidence to show Mrs Z had clearly expressed she did not wish to have contact with Mr X. Therefore, even if the Council was responsible for the actions of the care home, an investigation is not justified as we are not likely to find fault. This is because the Council was respecting Mrs Z’s wish for no contact with Mr X.
9. The Council handed the keys to Mrs Z’s property to the borough council. The Council explained it did this as otherwise Mrs Z would have continued to be charged for the property. An investigation is not justified as we are not likely to find fault as there was no reason for the Council to inform Mr X of this action given Mrs Z’s wish for no contact.
10. Any complaint about how the borough council dealt with Mrs Z’s personal belongings should be made to the borough council in the first instance. If Mr X is unhappy with the response, it is open to him to raise a new complaint to us to consider.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman