Summary: Mr X complained the Council did not take any action when he raised concerns about financial and emotional abuse of his mother by his brother. We should not investigate this late complaint. Mr X could have complained sooner but in any event, it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s actions or be able to achieve a meaningful outcome for Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not take any action when he raised concerns about financial and emotional abuse of his mother by his brother. He has incurred significant court fees which he believes are a result of fault by the Council.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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 would find fault, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

4. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mr X provided when he complained.
6. I considered information the Council provided.
7. I considered Mr X’s comments on a draft version of my decision.

Back to top

What I found

8. Mr X and his brother made allegations about each other, in relation to their mother’s (Mrs Y’s) finances. Mrs Y lives in a care home and cannot make her own decisions about financial matters.
9. The Council considered Mr X’s concerns in 2018 and closed the case in August 2018, as it was satisfied any risk to Mrs Y had reduced. The Council advised Mr X and his brother to arrange an independent deputy for Mrs Y. Mr X applied to the Court of Protection to be appointed as Mrs Y’s deputy, but the court instead appointed an independent deputy.
10. Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman for 15 months following the Council’s closure of the safeguarding case. I have considered Mr X’s explanation of the difficulties he had following the Council’s complaints procedures before deciding to bring the complaint to us. I accept this was a lengthy and frustrating process for Mr X. However, he could have brought his complaint to us within 12 weeks of complaining to the Council, having received no satisfactory outcome from the Council. We should not use our discretion to consider this late complaint.
11. In any event, it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s actions. It did not do nothing. It considered Mr X’s concerns and made recommendations which reduced the issues. Mr X disagreed with the outcome of the Council’s involvement, but that does not mean the Council was at fault.
12. We also could not achieve a meaningful remedy for Mr X. In Mr X’s view, his court costs were due to the Council’s lack of action. However, regardless of what action the Council decided to take, if Mr X wished to be appointed as deputy for his mother, this would have needed to go via the Court of Protection in any event. It is unlikely we could therefore say his court costs were due to any fault by the Council. We do not have the same power as the courts to make decisions about who should be a person’s deputy so we could not make recommendations in that respect. We should not consider this complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

13. The Ombudsman should not investigate this late complaint. This is because there is not a good reason Mr X could not have complained sooner, and in any event it is unlikely we would find fault or achieve a meaningful outcome for Mr X.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman