Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr Y’s case. The Council has upheld Mr X’s complaint that it failed to properly assess Mr Y’s mental capacity and best interests for several years. It has apologised to Mr X for the faults identified, offered a substantial remedy payment and taken action to learn and improve its service. There is nothing more we could meaningfully achieve by investigating this matter further.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to provide sufficient support or respite for his son, Mr Y. Mr X says Mr Y’s significant behavioural issues were evident to the Council since May 2022. He believes the Council’s inaction is likely to have led to a police incident involving Mr Y in July 2022 and Mr X’s suicide attempt. Mr X says he incurred significant costs obtaining assessments for Mr Y, which he believes the Council should reimburse. He wants the Council to improve its practices and procedures.

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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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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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. The Council has met with Mr X and Mr Y’s mother to discuss its handling of Mr Y’s case. The Council accepts its handling of Mr Y’s case since 2022 and his transition between Children’s and Adult Social Care Services was poor. It has issued an apology to Mr X and Mr Y’s mother for the significant negative impact of its poor case handling on Mr Y and his family. The Council has also explained the steps it will take to learn from this case, including improvements to record keeping, further staff training and information sharing between teams. The Council has offered Mr X a remedy payment of £2,000 in recognition of the delays in completing assessments and the significant impact on Mr X and his family.
7. The Council’s final complaint response to Mr X’s complaints is detailed and thorough. It has upheld large parts of the concerns he raised and set out the action the Council intends to complete to improve. We will not normally investigate a complaint where we are unlikely to add to a previous investigation. It is not a good use of public money to do so. In this case, the question for us is whether our intervention would add anything to the investigation the Council has carried out and the action it proposes to take. There is nothing to suggest that it would do so.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not add to the Council’s previous investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman