Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the Council’s role in safeguarding of her mother in 2018. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council, and there is no good reason to investigate the complaint so long after the original events and where much of the evidence has already been considered in court.

The complaint

1. Ms B complains about the role of the Council in the safeguarding of her parents in January 2018. Ms B says she raised her concerns about incidents and injuries to her late mother while in the care of the Council. Ms B complains the Council failed to document and record several incidents and did not take her concerns seriously. Ms B says the Council’s actions resulted in the unnecessary disruption of their family life, and caused her and her parents avoidable distress and anxiety.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

4. We have the power to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, raised within a court of law. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered what Ms B said in her complaint and the information she has sent in support. I have also considered correspondence about the complaint from the Council.
7. I have given Ms B the opportunity to comment on a draft before making a final decision.

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What I found

8. Ms B complains about the Council’s involvement in the safeguarding and removal of her parents to a care home in 2018. A care worker reported possible harm to the police, who decided to remove them to a place of safety which the Council arranged. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council involvement, because of its legal duties, and the fact the matter was considered by it and the police to be urgent.
9. A council must make necessary enquiries if it has reason to think a person may be at risk of abuse or neglect and has needs for care and support which mean he or she cannot protect himself or herself. It must also decide whether it or another person or agency should take any action to protect the person from abuse or risk. (section 42, Care Act 2014)
10. Ms B says she raised many concerns about her mother’s health while her mother was in the care home. On visiting her mother she says she noticed she was in pain and had many injuries. Ms B complains the Council did not make a recording or a written note of her concerns. Ms B complains the Council did not record an incident were she is alleged to have pushed her mother to the chest and questions the alleged inconsistency in statements later given by the Council. Later that evening Ms B’s mother was admitted to hospital and sadly died.
11. An inquest into the death of Ms B’s mother took place at the Coroner’s Court in 2019. Ms B was legally represented at the hearing and had the opportunity to ask questions to any witnesses called to give evidence. The Coroner decided the cause of Ms B’s death was misadventure, but resulted from actions Ms B took with no intention of causing harm. It is not open to the Ombudsman to re-examine the Coroner’s findings, but they mean we could not decide the Council failed to safeguard Ms B’s mother from other risks of harm as she claims.
12. The Council replied to Ms B’s complaint and said the suitable forum for her to have asked questions was at the inquest and it said it would not engage further.
13. Ms B has been aware of the issues she raises since January 2018 and there is no good reason to investigate them now. It is clear Ms B’s version of events is quite different to the information the Council holds and was used in the inquest into her mother’s death. The Council and the police worked together in the first instance to safeguard Ms B’s parents in an emergency, and while Ms B disagrees that was necessary it is not open to the Ombudsman to question what the police did, nor the merits of the Council’s actions just because Ms B disagrees with them. Later events were examined fully in court, and the Ombudsman cannot provide Ms B with a different outcome or any vindication of her own involvement as she might wish.

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Final decision

14. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and the complaint is late without good reason to investigate it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman