Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council allowing an estranged relative to contact her mother. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and there is another body better placed to consider parts of the complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council allowed an estranged relative to contact her late mother, Mrs Y, who was vulnerable and that it also shared information about her late father, Mr Y, with the relative. She said the relative had previously financially abused her parents. Miss X said the matter caused her distress. She wants the Council to acknowledge it acted with fault and implement service improvements to prevent a recurrence of fault.

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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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(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 Miss X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X’s mother, Mrs Y, had a medical illness which affected her brain function. She lived in a Care Home. Miss X had Lasting Power of Attorney for her mother.
6. When Miss X’s father died, Miss X said an estranged relative made contact with the Council about her parents. She said the Council told the relative about Miss X’s father’s funeral. The relative wanted to see Miss X’s mother. Miss X told the Council she was concerned about the relative wanting to contact her mother and that they had previously abused her parents which was raised to the police at the time.
7. In response to Miss X’s concerns, the Council conducted a safeguarding investigation. It said its safeguarding investigation found there was limited evidence to support that Mrs Y would be at risk of harm if the relative had contacted her. The Council said as Miss X had Lasting Power of Attorney for her mother, the risk of financial abuse was low.
8. Mrs Y’s Social Worker gave the relative details of the Care Home. Miss X was unhappy with the Social Worker sharing further information. The Council said the Social Worker did not consider it would bring harm to Mrs Y.
9. Miss X continued to raise her concerns with the Council. She said as Lasting Power of Attorney, it was her decision whether her mother could be visited by the relative. In response, the Council advised the relative not to visit Mrs Y as it had to conduct several meetings to further assess the matter.
10. The Council completed a mental capacity assessment to obtain Mrs Y’s views on the matter, however it was unable to do so as Mrs Y lacked the mental capacity to understand the situation. The Council had therefore planned to arrange a Best Interest meeting to determine the best course of action to take. However, Mrs Y died before the meeting was due to take place.
11. In her complaint to us, Miss X also told us the Council shared a private letter which was part of her father’s will with the relative.
12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because the Council assessed whether Mrs Y would be at risk by having contact with the relative via a safeguarding investigation which was appropriate. It recognised Miss X remained unhappy about the matter and so conducted a mental capacity assessment with Mrs Y which was appropriate. As it was unable to obtain Mrs Y’s views, it had planned to carry out a Best Interest meeting which was also appropriate. This is what we would expect the Council to do. There was insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in the way it assessed the risk.
13. In relation to Miss X’s complaints about the Council sharing her father’s funeral details and the private letter, this would be better investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is specialised in investigating matters related to breaches in data.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and there is another body better placed to consider parts of her complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman