Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the Council’s lack of involvement with her late stepfather, Mr C. This is because any injustice caused to Mr C by fault from the Council’s actions an investigation might uncover, cannot be remedied now. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mrs B’s concerns about the condition of his property or her share of the equity in the property. This is because Mr C’s accommodation provider is not within his jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. Mrs B says the Council should have provided care to her late stepfather, Mr C when it was advised as an elderly vulnerable man he was not coping and his property was in a state of disrepair. Mrs B says she has had to pay nearly £5000 for the property to be to put back into a habitable state as demanded by the accommodation provider and says it should buy back her 25% share.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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
• 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, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as Housing Associations. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information and documentation Mrs B and the Council provided. I sent Mrs B a copy of my draft decision for comment.

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What I found

5. Mrs B says the Council had a duty of care towards Mr C and, although he said he did not want support, it should have been more proactive and engaged with him to ensure he had the capacity to make that decision given he was an elderly vulnerable person.
6. The Council says it received several calls about Mr C and attempted to engage with him. It says it received a referral from Mr C’s GP in November 2018. It telephoned Mr C but he declined to have a care needs assessment. In February 2019 it received a call from Mr C’s accommodation provider. It says it again telephoned Mr C and offered a care needs assessment, but he declined to have one. In November 2019, a concerned member of the public found Mr C wandering in the street and escorted him home. They contacted the Council when they saw he had no food in the house, and it appeared bare and cold. The Council says it made several attempts to contact Mr C and sent a letter asking him to get in touch if he wanted a care needs assessment. On 18 December 2019, Mr C’s accommodation provider contacted the Council after his neighbour raised concerns about him. The Council says it tried to contact Mr C on 20 December. It later received notification Mr C had been taken by ambulance to hospital where he died.
7. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 says a person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he lacks capacity. A person should not be treated as unable to make a decision:

• Because he makes an unwise decision.
• Based simply on: their age; their appearance; assumptions about their condition, or any aspect of their behaviour.
• Before all practicable steps to help the person to do so have been taken without success.

8. The Ombudsman could not say Mr C lacked capacity to make the decision not to engage with the Council when it offered him a care needs assessment and cannot now remedy any injustice caused by any fault an investigation might uncover as he has since died.
9. Mrs B is concerned she has had to pay for repairs to Mr C’s property and says as a part owner, his accommodation provider should buy her share from her. These are not matters the Ombudsman can consider. Mr C’s accommodation was provided by a Housing Association. The Housing Ombudsman can consider complaints about Housing Associations. Information about the Housing Ombudsman can be found on the website below.

https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because any injustice caused to Mr C by fault from the Council’s actions an investigation might uncover cannot be remedied now. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mrs B’s concerns about the condition of his property or her share of the equity in the property. This is because Mr C’s accommodation provider is not within his jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman