Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council restricting her from seeing her wife and the Council withholding information. This is because we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council restricted her from seeing her wife and withheld information from her about her wife too. She said the matter caused her distress. She wants the Council to provide her with information about her wife. Mrs X also wants the Council to apologise to her for the injustice caused.

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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 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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation, 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

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X said in early 2024, her wife had a brain injury. She said following this, her wife’s daughter, who has Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for her wife, attended a meeting about her wife’s care and since then, Mrs X has not been able to see her wife. She also said when she has asked the Council about her wife, the Council responded it cannot share any information with her due to her not having the legal authority.
6. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome. Mrs X’s complaint concerns contact with her wife and access to information about her care. We cannot expect the Council to disclose confidential information where there is the involvement of a legal authority such as an LPA. Therefore, it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman