London Borough of Islington (23 002 765)
Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Jun 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to carry out a safeguarding investigation more than a year after receiving the referral. We could not come to sound conclusions at this time, until the Council has finished its enquiries.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council wrongly carried out a section 42 enquiry relating to her deceased aunt, Mrs Y, without the family’s knowledge. She says the Council failed to liaise with other agencies and risked other ongoing lines of enquiry. She says events have caused the family significant distress. They want the Council to apologise and correct the information it has on file.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council previously decided not to carry out a Section 47 enquiry relating to the circumstances leading up to Mrs Y’s death. However, more recently, at the beginning of 2023, it decided to carry out a Section 47 enquiry and it made contact with Mrs X, Mrs Y’s niece. Her complaint is about its decision to do so, which she believes is wrong and causes unnecessary distress. She says it also places ongoing lines of enquiry by other organisations at risk.
- The enquiry has not yet finished and so we could not come to sound conclusions at this time relating to the impact on the family of any fault that may have occurred. We, like the Council, will not investigate the complaint at this time, until the Council’s safeguarding investigation is completed.
- It is open to Mrs X to complain to the Council, and then us if necessary, after that process has finished.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint at this time because it relates to a Section 42 enquiry that is currently ongoing.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman