Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s engagement with the complainant in matters relating to his son’s welfare. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the way his complaint has been considered under the statutory procedure for children’s services complaints and we cannot therefore consider the merits of the findings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains that the Council has been at fault in its engagement with him regarding his son’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 and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X’s son has been the subject of private legal proceedings. He has also been the subject of safeguarding concerns and assessments. Mr X complains that the Council’s officers have acted with bias against him throughout their engagement with him and his son.
6. Mr X’s specific complaints relate to the way social workers have dealt with safeguarding concerns about his son, their action when directed by the court to produce a report under section 7 of the Children Act 1989, and in sharing his confidential information. He contends that the Council’s officers consistently acted with bias against him.
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8. Mr X’s complaint has completed the three stages of the statutory procedure for children’s services complaints and, in the main, has not been upheld. He is unhappy with the outcome.
9. The Ombudsman cannot consider matters relating to the section 7 report. Such reports are ordered by the court and form part of court proceedings. As such, they fall outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, and we cannot consider anything relating to their production or content. We will not therefore consider how the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint about the section 7 report.
10. Neither will we take a view on whether the Council has been at fault in the handling of Mr X’ s personal information. He may bring this matter to the attention of the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is better placed than the Ombudsman to consider it.
11. The safeguarding aspect of Mr X’s complaint has completed the three stages of the statutory procedure. The procedure provides independent scrutiny of a complainant’s concerns at Stage 2 and, where they remain unhappy, the opportunity to make representations to an independent review panel.
12. Where the statutory procedure has been used, the key question for the Ombudsman is whether the evidence shows that the matter has been properly considered. Where this is the case, and the outcome appears reasonable and defensible, we will not intervene.
13. In Mr X’s case, the evidence demonstrates that his complaint received a proper level of scrutiny at Stage 2. Mr X disagreed with the Stage 2 findings and used his right to escalate the complaint to Stage 3. He was able to make representations to the Review Panel, and these are reflected in its report. The fact that it changed some of the Stage 2 findings in his favour demonstrates that it gave the matter a proper degree of consideration. Mr X disagrees with the outcome, but that does not mean it amounts to fault.
14. There is no evidence of fault in the way Mr X’s complaint was considered. That being the case, the findings, which appear proportionate and defensible, are a matter for the professional judgement of the decision-makers. In the absence of evidence of fault, the Ombudsman cannot criticise the findings, or intervene to substitute an alternative view.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault in the way his complaint has been considered under the statutory procedure for children’s services complaints and we cannot therefore consider the merits of the findings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman