Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about services to her disabled child as this is unlikely to add to the Council’s investigation, and it is unlikely we could achieve the outcome Mrs X wants.

The complaint

1. Mrs X said there were failings by the Council in supporting her to care for her disabled daughter. She said the result of these failings was that she gave up full custody of her daughter to her ex-partner and all the equipment her daughter needs was moved to his home. She wants the Council to compensate her and to support her to provide the right equipment to re-establish home visits for her daughter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. I shared a draft of this decision with Mrs X.

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My assessment

7. After we found fault with the Council’s complaint handling in case 21 004 772, it completed dealing with Mrs X’s complaint. It upheld about half of her complaints including not telling her she could have a carer’s assessment and leaving her disabled daughter using a bath seat that was unsuitable. The Council had already paid Mrs X £200 for its delayed complaint handling, but it also apologised and offered her £400 for the fault found.
8. I have considered the remaining complaints. We cannot investigate the content of a court report, and it is unlikely we could add to the Council’s investigation of matters such as the content of telephone calls, or the decision of a social worker to visit Mrs X’s home unannounced.
9. We are also unlikely to be able to achieve the outcomes Mrs X wants. The sum offered by the Council for the faults found is within the range we would normally expect, and compensation is a matter about which it would be reasonable to approach a court, as courts may award compensation, whereas we cannot do so.
10. The provision of disabled adaptations depends on where a child with disabilities is living. Mrs X said her ex-partner has “full custody”. If her daughter is not living with her, the Council has no duty to provide adaptations in anticipation that she might return. Mrs X’s daughter’s residence and contact with is a matter for a court. Should a court decide that the child is to spend time at Mrs X’s home, it would then have a duty to consider what adaptations if any would be necessary.
11. In response to the draft decision, Mrs X provided a copy of a very recent child in need review. This states that the child should have stable contact with her parents in a safe environment with appropriate disability aids. It does not state the Council now needs to carry out specific works to Mrs X’s property. And it does not state that contact needs to take place at Mrs X’s property. If, however, the decision is taken that Mrs X’s child should have contact with her at her property, then the Council would have a duty to make sure that contact is safe, including making any adaptations it finds necessary to enable it. However, this new information does not mean we could make a specific recommendation to the Council based on the previous situation that existed.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because investigation by us is unlikely to add to the Council’s investigation, and it is unlikely we could achieve the outcome Mrs X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman