The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We do not uphold Mrs X’s complaint the Council failed to address her safeguarding concerns about a vulnerable neighbour (Ms Y) and properly address her complaint. The Council took proportionate action and responded appropriately to Ms X’s complaint.
The complaint
Mrs X complained Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council (‘the Council’) failed to address her safeguarding concerns about a vulnerable neighbour (Ms Y) and respond to her complaint. She says the neighbour trespassed onto her property, damaged her fence, and invaded her privacy.
Mrs X says she incurred expenses installing CCTV cameras, replacing her fence, and fitting gate locks. She says she also experienced distress and time and trouble trying to resolve her complaint with the Council.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered the information and documents provided by Mrs X and the Council. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision before I reached a final decision.
What I found
Law and guidance The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Care Act 2014 work together to promote the empowerment, safety and wellbeing of adults with care and support needs.
There is nothing in the Care Act 2014 that replaces or undermines the MCA when it comes to making decisions with or on behalf of adults who lack capacity. There are five principles of the MCA: Assume a person has capacity to make decisions unless there is evidence otherwise.
Do all you can to maximise a person’s capacity.
Unwise or eccentric decisions do not mean lack of capacity.
If you are making a decision for or about a person who lacks capacity, act in their best interests.
Look for the least restrictive option.
Section 42 of the Care Act 2014 requires each local authority make enquiries if it believes an adult with care and support needs is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect. A safeguarding enquiry establishes whether any action needs to be taken to prevent or stop abuse or neglect.
The Council’s safeguarding policy Section 1.9 of the Council’s safeguarding adult’s policy states a duty of confidentiality arises when personal information is recorded in circumstances where it is reasonable for the subject of the information to expect the information will be held in confidence.
Section 4.0 of the policy recognises the need to keep those reporting concerns informed. However, it also requires any feedback take account of confidentiality and requirements of data protection law.
The Council’s complaints procedure The Council’s guidance states: It acknowledges complaints by email and then a manager will investigate why the complainant is unhappy, what has gone wrong and what can be done to put things right.
The manager will then formally respond to the complaint within 10 working days with an outcome.
If the complainant remains unhappy with the outcome, they can approach the Ombudsman.
What happened Ms Y spent some time in hospital and returned to live alone at home.
The Council arranged carers to support Ms Y. Mrs X told me she believed Ms Y had dementia.
Mrs X informed the Council Ms Y often wandered around in the street, spoke to strangers, turned up uninvited and rang her doorbell until she answered. Mrs X said Ms Y damaged her fence while trying to jump over it to gain entry to her home.
Records show Mrs X contacted the Council as she was concerned about Ms Y’s safety. The Council then gave Mrs X telephone advice about how to manage Ms Y’s behaviour.
Mrs X contacted the Council again the following month to say the advice was not helping and she would formally complain.
The Council explained to Mrs X that her concerns did not amount to a safeguarding issue because Ms Y was entitled to leave her own home and approach other people although this may cause irritation.
Mrs X informed the Council that said she would have to install new gate locks, CCTV cameras, replace her fence and fit a camera doorbell to try and manage the problem. Mrs X said the Council should pay these costs. The Council told her she was free to do this, but it would not pay her costs.
Mrs X then formally complained to the Council about it failing to act on her safeguarding alerts and respond to her many calls.
The Council’s final complaint response said it: Had reviewed Mrs X’s concerns and the actions of all professionals in Ms Y’s care. The evidence confirmed the professionals had assessed the risks, taken appropriate action and considered the views of those concerned.
Was sorry to hear Ms Y’s behaviour impacted Ms Y and her privacy but there was no evidence of fault in relation to its professional duties. Therefore, this element of complaint was not upheld.
Identified one occasion in August 2021, where Mrs X did not get a phone call back from the care team. It apologised and upheld this part of her complaint.
Was there fault and did it cause injustice?
i) Failure to address Mrs X’s safeguarding concerns about Ms Y I do not find any fault in the way the Council dealt with concerns Mrs X raised about Ms Y’s welfare.
The records concerning the safeguarding enquiries are confidential as explained at paragraphs 8 and 9. However, I have considered them and am satisfied the Council followed the correct procedure and took proportionate action consistent with its adult safeguarding policy.
ii) Failure to respond to Mrs X’s complaint I do not find the Council failed to respond to Mrs X’s complaint. It responded to Ms X’s telephone calls and acknowledged the occasion when this did not happen. It has apologised and accepted this was below its expected standard. The Council also acknowledged Mrs X’s formal complaint and sent her a full response according to its complaints procedure.
Final decision
I find no fault in the way the Council addressed Mrs X’s safeguarding concerns about Ms Y and responded to her complaint.
I have now completed my investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman