Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about children services’ actions as we are unlikely to achieve the outcome she seeks.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains about children services’ actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
3. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X left care over ten years ago. She says her time in care caused her significant trauma (for which she blames the Council), which in turn led to her own children being taken into care (for which she also blames the Council). She says she has suffered mental health issues throughout her life.
7. Miss X complained to us in April 2023 about these events. We decided in June 2023 we could not investigate these events as they were too old, and it was reasonable for Miss X to have complained sooner. The Council has since agreed to carry out a Children Act statutory complaints’ investigation on these events.
8. This is a three-stage procedure for councils to follow. The accompanying statutory guidance, ‘Getting the Best from Complaints’, explains councils’ responsibilities in more detail. We also published practitioner guidance on the procedures, setting out our expectations.
9. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution.
10. If a complainant is not happy with a council’s stage one response, they can ask that it is considered at stage two. At this stage of the procedure, councils appoint an investigating officer (IO) to look into the complaint and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation and ensuring its independence.
11. Following the investigation, a senior manager (the adjudicating officer) carries out an adjudication, considering the IO report and any report from the IP. They decide what the council’s response to the complaint will be, including what action it will take. The adjudicating officer then writes to the complainant with a copy of the investigation report, any report from the independent person and the adjudication response.
12. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel.
13. The complaints’ process ended in December 2023. The Council offered £2000 for some of the faults it identified. Miss X remains unhappy. She says the Council has not upheld all her complaints. She wants us to investigate the not upheld complaints. She says the Council’s actions affected her health and wellbeing and that she was harmed because of its actions.

Analysis

14. We could look at how the Council has remedied its statutory complaint. But it is unlikely that we would achieve what Miss X wants. This is because:
• We cannot investigate the events she wants us to as we decided in June 2023 that we cannot do so.
• We would not recommend the Council make any payment for any health issues she has suffered. We usually say the courts are better placed to consider any personal injury claims. I see no reason why this should not apply to this complaint.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcome she seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman