Kent County Council (24 009 423)
Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Nov 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s safeguarding investigation which may relate to Mrs X. The matter is currently ongoing, and we could not come to sound conclusions at this time. It is open to Mrs X to complain to us after investigations have reached a conclusion, if necessary.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained the Council appeared to have investigated a safeguarding matter relating to her status as Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for a family member, without having informed her. She said she did not know the nature of any concerns it had.
- Mrs X said the matter had caused her significant distress and had affected her relationship with the family member. She said she had been unable to meet her responsibilities as attorney due to her access to her family member’s account having been blocked. She wanted the Council to clarify the situation.
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 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- When Mrs X complained to us in August 2024, she said the Council appeared to be investigating her but she was unsure why. She suspected the investigation related to her role as LPA for her family member. She said her access to the family member’s account had been blocked so she had not been able to pay their care charges. She said she had decided not to visit the family member in the meantime, while she did not know the nature of any allegations against her.
- Mrs X has more recently received notification from the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) of an investigation it will carry out into her actions as the family member’s attorney. This notification detailed the matters the OPG intends to consider. The OPG is the body responsible for deciding whether someone’s status as LPA should be revoked, and is the organisation best placed to advise Mrs X of her legal status in the meantime.
- We could not come to sound conclusions at this time about the Council’s actions, as matters are ongoing. The outcome of current investigations would be relevant to our consideration of the matter. After both parties have completed investigations, it is open to Mrs X to make a new complaint to us should she remain dissatisfied with the Council’s actions.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is about investigations that are ongoing and so we could not come to sound conclusions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman