The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint, made on behalf of Mr Y, about the evidence the Council provided to the Court of Protection when the court decided where Mr Y should live. The law does not allow us to investigate what happened in court.
The complaint
Mr X complains on behalf of his son Mr Y about the Council’s involvement in the Court of Protection’s decision on Mr Y’s residential placement. Mr X says the Council gave misleading information to the court and did not consider other views. He wants Mr Y to be moved to a different placement, the Council to apologise, and to record his concerns about Mr Y’s former social worker.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Mr X, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Court of Protection deals with decision-making for adults who may lack capacity to make specific decisions for themselves. It may need to become involved in difficult cases or cases where there are disagreements that cannot be resolved in any other way. The Court of Protection: decides whether a person has capacity to make a particular decision for themselves; makes declarations, decisions or orders on financial or welfare matters affecting people who lack capacity to make such decisions; appoints deputies to make decisions for people lacking capacity to make those decisions; decides whether a Lasting Power of Attorney or Enduring Power of Attorney is valid; and removes deputies or attorneys who fail to carry out their duties.
We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint as the core issue is about evidence which was considered by the court. As set out in paragraph three above, the law does not allow us to investigate complaints about what happened in court. Mr X’s complaint is outside our jurisdiction.
While the Council was a party in the Court of Protection proceedings, it did not make the decision on where Mr Y should live. That was a decision by the Court of Protection. If Mr X wants to get Mr Y moved to a different placement he considers more suitable, he would need to put the matter back to that court. We cannot intervene or be involved in the court’s processes or decisions.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is about something which happened in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman