Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to the care that the complainant received in a residential home. This is because much of the complaint is late and is therefore out of our jurisdiction. There is nothing further that we could add to the responses regarding the Council’s more recent actions in relation to safeguarding and withholding data.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Ms J, says that:
2. Her father was put into a residential care home in 2005, against his wishes and that he received poor quality care at the home over period of several years;
3. She complained about the quality of her father’s care on may occasions, and raised safeguarding concerns, but the Council did not take her complaints seriously or deal with them properly;
4. Her father suffered financial abuse; and
5. The Care home refused to give her documentation relating to a property transfer made by her father.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

6. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
7. 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)
8. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
9. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered the information provided by Miss J and by the Council. I have also sent Miss J a draft decision for her comments.

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What I found

11. Miss J’s father, F, was in a residential care home, prior to his death. Miss J says that the Council forced him into it, and did not investigate her allegations of poor quality care. As F entered the care home in 2005, complaints from this time are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. We cannot look at matters that the complainant knew about more than 12 months previously, unless there are good reasons to exercise the Ombudsman’s discretion to do so. I have seen no good reasons in this case.
12. Miss J has raised a more recent safeguarding concern, in relation to the Care Home’s management of F’s health, just prior to his death. The safeguarding report shows a thorough investigation into the issues raised, but found no evidence to substantiate the concerns. There is nothing more that we could add through further investigation of this issue.
13. Miss J further says that she raised safeguarding concerns regarding F’s possible financial abuse, in 2012, but that they were not taken seriously.
14. The Council says that F asked it in 2012 to manage his money due to physical incapacity, and it carried out this role until his death. Any complaint about financial abuse from this period is also late and we will not consider it.
15. After F’s death, the Council’s role lapsed, and, as one of the executors of F’s will, Miss J asked the Care Home to provide her with documentation relating to a land transfer made by F. Initially the Care Home refused to share the financial data with Miss J, but has now provided her with the details she requested. There is nothing further that we could achieve on this matter. If Miss J remains dissatisfied with the Care Home’s actions, she has the right to make a Freedom of Information complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office, against the Council, which, as the funding body, is responsible for the Care Home’s actions.

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Final decision

16. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because part of it is made late and is out of jurisdiction and there is nothing we could achieve on the other matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman