Essex County Council (24 016 397)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Feb 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the impact of a safety plan on the progress Mr X’s son was making. The plan complained about was devised by a charity and other bodies, not the Council. The complaint is thus about a matter that was a not a function of the Council. We cannot consider how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint about this as the substantive matter lies outside our powers.
The complaint
- Mr X said the negative effect on his child of an ill-advised safety plan devised by a charity and other bodies was significant. He said the Council’s response to his complaint was inconsistent in that it refused to pursue the matter after an initial response.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate complaints about actions which are not the administrative function of a council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(1) as amended).
- The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X stated the safety plan was drawn up by a charity and approved by other bodies after his ex-partner reported domestic abuse by a new partner. This was not an action of the Council, and we cannot investigate it. That Mr X takes the view the Council should have been involved does not change that.
- We are legally prevented from investigating matters of complaint handling where we cannot investigate the substantive matter complained of.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the substantive matter complained of was not an action of the Council. We are thus legally prevented from considering how the Council dealt with his complaint about the matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman