Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council was at fault in its response to a safeguarding referral it received concerning the complainant’s daughter’s welfare. This is because investigation would not achieve the outcomes the complainant is seeking.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains that the Council was at fault in its response to a safeguarding referral it received concerning her daughter’s welfare.

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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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. The Council received a safeguarding referral from the Health Service raising concerns about Ms X’s daughter’s welfare. Ms X says that, when she spoke to the Council’s social worker, she explained that the information from the Health Service was false and based on inaccurate information about her.
6. Ms X complains that, rather than taking action to verify what she had said, the Council made a report alleging child neglect to the Police and recorded false information concerning her mental health. She says that, as a result, a social worker entered her home under a false impression of her mental capacity. She contends that this placed her at risk.
7. The Council carried out a Child and Family Assessment which identified no safeguarding issues. On that basis, it decided there was no role for it and closed its case. Ms X says the Child and Family Assessment report contains information which is false and defamatory, and that sharing it with her employer was material to the loss of her employment.
8. In settlement of her complaint, Ms X wants the rectification of all records the Council holds and for its violation of her rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to be addressed. She regards the Council’s actions as amounting to a criminal offence, and wants it to report itself to the Police. In addition, she wants to be compensated for negligence, personal injury and defamation.
9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because investigation would not achieve what she wants. The Ombudsman will not ask councils to alter their files retrospectively. The most we will normally seek to achieve is that a record of a complainant’s dissenting views are added to the file. Ms X has set her views out in her complaint correspondence and this forms part of the record of the case, so the Ombudsman would not seek anything further. If Ms X wants her records changed, her recourse is to use her right to rectification.
10. If Ms X is unhappy with the Council’s response to the request for rectification her recourse is to bring the matter to the attention of the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is better placed than the Ombudsman to consider it. This is also the case with her allegation that the Council has violated her rights under data protection legislation.
11. It is not for the Ombudsman to take a view on whether a crime has been committed, and we will not ask the Council to refer itself to the Police. Mrs X may do so herself if she believes it is appropriate. The evidence she has provided shows that she has been in contact with the Police. The outcome is not a matter for the Ombudsman.
12. We cannot consider whether the Council has been negligent or defamatory, or whether Ms X has suffered personal injury as a result. Negligence, defamation and personal injury are matters which can only be definitively determined in court. If Ms X wants compensation she should go to court. There is no role for the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because investigation would not achieve the outcomes she is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman