Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to concerns Mrs X has about a family relation. This is because there is not sufficient evidence of fault for parts of her complaint and as to the other parts, it is not likely investigation would lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s response to concerns she had about her relative (Mrs Y). She complained the Council was not acting in Mrs Y’s best interests and did not recognise Mrs X’s role as a carer.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(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. Mrs Y lives at home with a relative, Mr Z, who is her carer. She lacks mental capacity to make her own decisions about her care and support. Mrs X holds deputyship for property and finance decisions for Mrs Y and is also her carer.
7. Mrs X’s complaint to us raised multiple concerns. This decision statement only considers events going back to December 2023. Matters complained about before then are now late and I have not seen good reasons why they could not have been made to us sooner.
8. Mrs X complained the Council excluded her from care planning decisions for Mrs Y. Although Mrs X is not the Deputy for welfare decisions, the Council has apologised for not recognising her as a carer. The Council said it will involve her in future assessment and care planning and will offer her a carers assessment. This is an appropriate response to this part of Mrs X’s complaint, and it is unlikely further investigation by us would lead to a different outcome.
9. Mrs X complained the Council ignored her concerns about Mrs Y, in particular relating to her financial position, and said it was not always acting in Mrs Y’s best interests. The Council said there were no safeguarding concerns that affected Mrs Y between December 2023 and April 2025.
10. Additionally, I have reviewed the Councils assessment and care plan for Mrs Y, they appear to reflect her needs as described in the complaint correspondence. In its complaint response the Council explained it continues to work with Mrs Y and to support Mr Z as a carer. There does not appear to be sufficient evidence of fault here by the Council to justify investigation, therefore we will not investigate this part of the complaint.
11. Mrs X complained a safeguarding concern she made about Mr Z went missing. The Council said the concern was not missing, but Mrs X remained concerned. The Council has now completed its safeguarding enquiries. It is unlikely investigation of this matter by us would lead to a different outcome.
12. Mrs X complained about delay in the Council response to her complaint. In its complaint response the Council apologised and explained the reasons for the time taken. We will not consider this part of the complaint. This is because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, where we decide not to deal with the substantive complaint issue.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not sufficient evidence of fault for parts of her complaint and of the parts remaining, it is not likely investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman