Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker and the Council’s refusal to remove and replace them. This is because there is nothing significant to be gained from investigation and our intervention is not therefore warranted.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains that the Council’s social worker was at fault in the course of a child protection enquiry and in the production of a report for the court, and that the Council refused to remove the social worker from her son’s case.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Miss X’s son was the subject of a child protection enquiry under section 47 of the Children Act 1989. She complains that the social worker who carried out the enquiry was biased and unprofessional. She says the report she produced contained inaccuracies. Miss X asked the Council to remove the social worker from her son’s case. The Council responded that it did not believe changing the social worker was in her son’s best interests.
7. The social worker was then tasked by the court with producing a section 37 report. Miss X says the report was inaccurate. She believes the Council should have replaced the social worker when she requested it. The correspondence Miss X has provided shows that the social worker is no longer working for the Council and is therefore no longer involved with her son’s case.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because our intervention would achieve nothing significant. The Ombudsman considers complaints against councils as corporate bodies, not against individual officers. It is for the Council to decide how to allocate its staff and we would not criticise the Council’s decision not to replace the social worker.
9. We cannot investigate the social worker’s actions in the course of producing the section 37 report. Such reports are ordered by the court and, as such, fall outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. By law, we cannot investigate their production or content and cannot therefore consider whether the Council’s social worker was at fault. Our intervention is not therefore warranted.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because investigation would achieve nothing significant.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman