Summary: Mrs X complains the Council failed to properly address safeguarding and other concerns about a taxi company used by her daughter, Miss D. She says the Council failed to address her concerns properly because she complained about other issues. As Mrs X has not responded to our correspondence, we have discontinued our investigation into this complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says that the Council:

• Failed to properly address her safeguarding and other concerns about a taxi company used by Miss D
• Failed to address her complaint properly because she complained about other issues.

2. Mrs X says the Council’s approach has caused her and Miss D an injustice. She says it has meant that they do not have confidence the Council will properly address any future concerns that may arise.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have not considered this complaint. Mrs X chose to use a representative to deal with her complaint. However, we have not received the required consent form for us to communicate with her representative. We wrote to Mrs X on 27 May 2020 to ask her if she still wanted to use a representative. We asked her to contact us by 10 June 2020 to let us know the position. To date, we have not received a response. We therefore decided to discontinue the investigation into Mrs X’s complaint.

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Final decision to discontinue

5. We have not received any communication to our draft decision to discontinue and so have decided to discontinue this investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman