Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (24 003 332)
Category : Children's care services > Looked after children
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 Jan 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint the Council has failed to encourage contact between her and her looked after child. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
- Miss X complained the Council has not supported contact with her child, Y, who is looked after. Miss X also complained the Council did not involve her in a Child Protection Conference for Y it held in 2022; and about safeguarding failures it made several years ago that resulted in Y being removed from her care. Miss X wants support in reconnecting with Y.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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:
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In the Council’s complaint response, it said Y had told it they did not want contact with Miss X. The Council confirmed Y’s Social Worker continued to support Y with their wishes around contact. It said Miss X could discuss contact at the next statutory review. However, any contact needed to consider Y’s wishes.
- Although Miss X is unhappy with this response we will not investigate. The Council is acting in line with Y’s wishes and kept Miss X’s contact under review. Further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.
- We will not investigate historical decisions the Council made into safeguarding Y. That is because we have previously considered these complaints and decided not to investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman