Marking this as solved since I didn't get any new reports
thank you @crinrict I appreciate you taking the time to try out the save. There's definitely a problem with free will but as far as I can tell it only effects that household! I was going to try what @PeopleMatterMore suggested but instead moved them into an empty pre-built house and demolished their previous gallery house. Everything was fine for a while they fulfilled their fun and energy needs at the click of a button, but then the autonomy broke down. It could be related to claiming beds, because up until the autonomy broke clicking on energy sent them to the nearest bed or sofa, then when that stopped working I had the husband and wife claim beds and although the husband managed to find his bed when I clicked on the energy button, the wife couldn't (or wouldn't!) after a while even the husband started napping on a garden bench or brewing coffee but his wife wouldn't attempt anything until her energy levels were so low she collapsed ☹️
I've played other households and they're all fine, although I've never played those families for long periods so I can't be sure. I am going to try what @PeopleMatterMore suggested and save the household to the gallery then start a new game and move them into a prebuilt house, and see if I can figure out how it breaks.
I've tried ceejay's suggestion with your save and it worked fine afterwards.
My theory on the free will is that the problem is the fun. Free will works fine for most Sims but not if they have very low fun.
