Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to implement a s42 safeguarding enquiry into concerns raised about Mrs C’s care and support. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an ombudsman investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained the Council should never have undertaken a s42 safeguarding enquiry in January 2021 into malicious concerns raised about her regarding care and support she provided to her late mother, Mrs C. Mrs B says it only came to her notice in 2022 that the Council had undertaken a safeguarding investigation in 2021 and says there were no legal grounds for the implementation of the s42 which has damaged her relationships and standing with her family. Mrs B wants the Council to acknowledge it should not have implemented a safeguarding enquiry and explain what legal grounds it undertook it, give her additional documentation and information she wants, clear her name, and acknowledge Mrs C was not at risk of harm from her. Mrs B says she has complained to the Police and the Council.

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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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The concerns Mrs B raises now happened in January 2021 over two years ago. Even if we investigated this complaint it is unlikely we could provide Mrs B with the outcomes she wants. The Council had a duty to protect Mrs C under its responsibility for safeguarding vulnerable adults, so would have had to consider allegations made, even if as Mrs B alleges, they were malicious. The Council provided Mrs B with an outcome to the safeguarding investigation in January 2021, although Mrs B says she did not receive this until June 2022. Mrs B says she has been distressed to discover malicious allegations were made about her, but we could not say the Council was at fault for considering them. We could not say why Mrs B did not receive the letter addressed to her in January 2021 explaining the outcome of the safeguarding investigation. If Mrs B wants information/documentation the Council is refusing to give her she can ask the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to consider her request. If Mrs B is concerned there is factually incorrect information contained in the safeguarding report she can ask the Council to put a copy of her views on the file alongside its report.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an ombudsman investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman