Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the safeguarding investigation carried out by the Council after Ms X alleged failings in the care of her adult son Mr Y. These matters could reasonably have been raised during court proceedings regarding where Mr Y should live. Even without a court case, investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the way the Council responded to Ms X’s safeguarding referral, or to recommend what she is seeking.

The complaint

1. Ms X said there were failings by care workers where her adult son Mr Y, lived. She said he had been allowed to ingest a non-food item, and that the care provider had altered records. She wants the Council’s safeguarding investigation done again.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
5. 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
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. The Council sent me a confidential copy of its safeguarding investigation from mid-2025 at my request. This included evidence of a profound disagreement between the parents of Mr Y about his care. It referred to a Court of Protection hearing that was then due to decide Mr Y’s care arrangements. We are legal prevented from investigating any matter it would be reasonable to raise in court from the onset of legal proceedings, which is when any party in the case first applies to the court. This legal bar is permanent. It would have been reasonable for Ms X to raise the matters she complains of, including alleged tampering, in court.
9. Even if there had been no attempted or actual court proceedings, the s.42 investigation by the Council considered all the points Ms X made and gave reasons for its inconclusive finding. Investigation by us would be unlikely to lead to a finding of fault or the outcome Ms X is seeking.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it would have reasonable to raise the matters she complains of during court proceedings. We are legally prevented from investigating matters subject to court proceedings.
11. Even if were no court proceedings to prevent us, we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s conduct of the safeguarding investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman