Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his mother’s telephone line being cut off after he raised a safeguarding concern to the Council. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains the Council allowed family members to cut off his mother’s, Mrs Y’s, telephone line, after he raised a safeguarding concern. This removed his only means of contacting her as he lives overseas.

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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 do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained the Council allowed family members to cut off Mrs Y’s telephone line after he raised a safeguarding concern about her.
7. The Council investigated Mr X’s concerns via a safeguarding enquiry under the Care Act 2014. It visited Mrs Y on more than one occasion and found no reason to doubt Mrs Y’s capacity in relation to the issues raised. Mrs Y reported no concerns around her care and support, emotional wellbeing or the management of her finances. Mrs Y said that due to her hearing difficulties she did not feel telephone contact with Mr X was beneficial because she could not converse over the phone. Mrs Y agreed the Council could feedback her wishes to Mr X but did not wish to do so herself. A Care Act Advocate also met independently with Mrs Y. The advocate was also satisfied Mrs Y was able to make informed decisions on the matters raised. The Council closed the enquiry and informed Mr X of its findings in writing.
8. This is not a complaint we will investigate. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council here. The Council took appropriate action to investigate Mr X’s concerns. However, it found Mrs Y had capacity to decide the matter of contact with Mr X for herself. Whilst I acknowledge Mr X was dissatisfied with the outcome there is no sign of fault in the way the Council considered the matter and the decision on contact was made not by the Council but by Mrs Y.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman