The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with safeguarding concerns raised about the complainant. This is because we could not add to the investigation already carried out by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains about how the Council’s Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) dealt with safeguarding concerns received about Mrs X, which she says resulted in her being dismissed by her employer.
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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (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 received a safeguarding concern regarding Mrs X, which was considered by the LADO due to the nature of Mrs X’s job. The LADO decided no further action was necessary and did not progress to an investigation. The LADO advised Mrs X’s employer to deal the matter in accordance with its HR policy.
I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint further because I do not consider that further investigation could add further to the investigation already carried out by the Council. It was the role of the LADO to provide advice to Mrs X’s employer, which it did. We cannot investigate the actions of the employer or hold the Council responsible for the actions of Mrs X’s employer. The Council has apologised for the LADO not responding to Mrs X’s correspondence and explained why this happened. For these reasons further investigation could not achieve anything further for more for Mrs X.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we could not add to the investigation already carried out by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman