The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council completed safeguarding enquiries. That is because we could not add to the Council’s previous investigation.
The complaint
Mrs X has Lasting Power of Attorney (LPoA) for Mrs Y. She complained about the Council’s actions after it received an adult safeguarding referral about Mrs Y. This referral was from the care home (the Home) where Mrs Y lived.
Mrs X said as part of the safeguarding enquiries the Council: tried to block her from completing an agreed sale of Mrs Y’s property; tried to remove her as Mrs Y’s LPoA; knew the Home was withholding Mrs Y’s money from her but did not address this; and tried to prevent her moving Mrs Y to a different care home.
She said these actions could have resulted in Mrs Y facing financial penalties and left her without the protection of someone who knows her.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) When a council commissions another organisation to provide services on its behalf it remains responsible for those services and for the actions of the organisation providing them.
This Council commissions the NHS Foundation Trust to complete its safeguarding enquiries for it. In this decision statement, I have referred to the Council as it is responsible for the safeguarding enquiries.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X contacted the Home, stating she was moving Mrs Y to a different placement. She gave the Home four weeks-notice. The Home made a safeguarding referral stating Mrs X planned to moved Mrs Y against her wishes, and that Mrs X was selling Mrs Y’s property without her knowledge.
The Council initiated safeguarding enquiries. It made a referral to the Office of Public Guardian (OPG) about Mrs X’s LPoA; it met with Mrs Y and contacted Mrs Y’s solicitor about the sale of her property.
The OPG notified the Council it had no concerns that Mrs X was acting in Mrs Y’s best interests as her LPoA. Shortly after that, the Council closed its safeguarding enquiries. Mrs X subsequently complained to the Council.
In the Council’s complaint response, it explained the referral it received met the safeguarding threshold for enquiries. It said it acted correctly when it contacted the OPG and Mrs Y’s solicitor when investigating these enquiries. However, it accepted it failed to communicate with Mrs X appropriately as part of those enquiries. It said it should have: spoken to Mrs X at the earliest opportunity as part of its enquiries; explained it was contacting Mrs Y's solicitor; arranged a best interest meeting about Mrs X’s decision to move Mrs Y to a different care home.
The Council apologised for failing to communicate with Mrs X and said it would address this with the investigating officer. In respect of Mrs X’s concerns the Council had not taken action to recover money owed to Mrs Y from the Home, it confirmed it had addressed this with the Home as part of its enquiries and the Home returned the money in December. However, it accepted that this should have been done sooner.
Although Mrs X is unhappy with the Council’s response to her complaint, we will not investigate this further. The Council has accepted that it was at fault in how it conducted the safeguarding enquiries, by failing to ensure it communicated with Mrs X. It has apologised for that and has addressed this with the investigating officer. It has also confirmed the Home has repaid Mrs Y the outstanding money owed. We could not add to the previous investigation by the Council and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman