Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council handled Mr X’s safeguarding referrals relating to his partner. The Court of Protection is involved to consider the substantive issues. We could not achieve a more meaningful outcome in relation to parts of the complaint that would be separable.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council:
• did not properly respond when he raised safeguarding concerns relating to his partner;
• wrongly shared his information with the alleged perpetrator; and
• failed to properly address his complaint.
2. He said the Council’s actions exacerbated his distress and enabled the alleged perpetrator to harass him. He said he had needed to attend therapy, and had to pursue costly legal proceedings. He wanted the Council to reconsider his safeguarding concerns and review his partner’s contact with the alleged perpetrator, as well as make service improvements.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. 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:
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is another body better placed to consider the complaint.
5. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
6. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
7. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. Mr X raised safeguarding concerns relating to his partner, who lives in a residential home. The Council considered the matter and initiated proceedings in the Court of Protection. The court will make decisions relating to Mr X’s partner’s residence, care and support needs, contact with others and information-sharing.
11. The law says we cannot investigate what happens in court. We cannot consider the substance of the Council’s representations to court, which includes its safeguarding enquiry reports. Mr X is not party to the court proceedings. However should he wish to challenge the content of the Council’s reports submitted to court, it would be open to him to seek legal advice with a view to applying to the court to become a party. We have no power to intervene in the court’s consideration of the case.
12. Large parts of Mr X’s complaints are matters that are inextricably linked to the court proceedings. He complained, for example, about alleged bias by the Council in its consultations. The alleged consequence of this is ultimately the content of the Council’s safeguarding enquiry, so this is not separable to the proceedings.
13. We could investigate the Council’s lack of communication with Mr X about the outcome of its enquiry, because the court is unlikely to consider this point and it appears to be sufficiently separable to the proceedings. However, the Council accepted fault in this respect during its internal complaints process, as well as in delay initially contacting Mr X. It has proposed meeting with Mr X to discuss its enquiries in detail. It is unlikely we could achieve anything more than this by investigating the matter further.
14. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the body that investigates complaints about how organisations handle people’s data. It is open to Mr X to contact the ICO about his complaint relating to the Council sharing his data.
15. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s complaint-handling in isolation.

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Final decision

16. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is about matters that are being considered in the Court of Protection, and we could not achieve a more meaningful outcome in relation to parts of the complaint that would be separable.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman