The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in respect of Mr X’s family. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigation, and we cannot achieve the outcome he wants.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council’s actions in respect of his family. He wanted the Council to review a child protection decision and apologise to his family.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council supplied the record of an Initial Child Protection Conference (ICPC), that decided his children should be subject to Child Protection Plans. These notes showed the concerns reported about the risks to the children. These were connected to difficulties in the relationship between Mr X and his partner. Given what was reported, based on what the children had said, and Mr X’s refusal to engage with the ICPC, it was a matter of professional judgement, not fault, for it to decide child protections measures were needed. We could not recommend the Council ended a Child Protection Plan, only ask it to re-take a decision that had been taken with fault. There is no evidence of fault here.
Most matters mentioned in Mr X’s complaint to us were not specific, but sending emails on a Friday afternoon does not entail sufficient fault to warrant investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant this, and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman