City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (25 010 565)
Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 13 Jan 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult safeguarding because there is not enough evidence of fault. We have no powers to consider concerns about the standard of care arranged by the NHS.
The complaint
- Mr B says a care provider failed to provide his relative, Ms C, with the required level of care and medication at the end of her life. This causes him depression and anxiety and he is having therapy.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as Integrated Care Boards. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
- 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.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr B complains about neglect at the end of Ms C’s life. The Ombudsman can consider care arranged by a council or care that is arranged privately. Ms C’s care was arranged by an Integrated Care Board which is an NHS body. We have no powers to consider its actions or actions of the care provider on its behalf.
- The Council’s only involvement was as the local safeguarding authority. The Council received a safeguarding referral. It did not trigger a full enquiry because Ms C had died so was no longer at risk. The Council gathered and shared some information with its commissioning and quality team and spoke with Mr B to say what it had done.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because we have no powers to consider the main concerns about the standard of care arranged by the NHS. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation into how the Council dealt with the safeguarding alert.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman