98 annual report 2010 restricted. The local authority had decided that the family were only allowed to visit her father for one hour a day out of consideration for the working environment of the nursing home staff. The Ombudsman stated that the authority of the local authority to restrict the family’s access to visiting the nursing home resident was based on ‘institution status’ (i.e. an administrative authority is entitled to make the necessary decisions on the operation of institutions under it). In the basis for the decision the local authority should, however, have included Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the right to a private and family life. The Ombudsman criticised the local authority for not establishing what was the correct authority for the visiting restrictions. In addition, the local authority had not described and thereby provided a clear picture of the actual circumstances in the case. The woman and her family had a different interpretation of the course of events from that of the local authority. Consequently, there was a considerable level of doubt as to the actual basis on which the decision to curtail the visits had been made. The Ombudsman therefore found that it was uncertain whether the visiting restrictions were in accordance with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However, having regard particularly to the information provided by the complainant, the Ombudsman did find that that there was a high level of conflict between the family and the nursing home staff, and that the staff felt that the family regarded them with suspicion and made often unreasonable accusations. The Ombudsman therefore stated that he appreciated why the local authority had decided to curtail the family’s access to visiting the nursing home. The Ombudsman criticised that the local authority had not considered the curtailing of visits to be a decision within the meaning of the Public Administration Act. Furthermore, the Ombudsman criticised the local authority for not consulting the woman and her family pursuant to section 19 of the Public Administration Act prior to making the decision. Lastly, the Ombudsman criticised the local authority’s grounds as they did not comply with the requirements in section 24 of the Public Administration Act. (Case No. 2008-2199-063) 8. Local authority’s case processing time A man complained to the Ombudsman about a local authority’s case processing time in a case concerning a noisy and disruptive enterprise at a neighbouring property. Prior to the local authority’s involvement, the case had had a long his-