The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Ms D complains about a report by the Council relating to an incident in a school. The Ombudsman has discontinued the investigation, there is no injustice to Ms D and we cannot achieve the outcome sought.
The complaint
The complainant (whom I refer to as Ms D) complains about a “pervasive culture” at the Council and refers to a report produced in 2017 about a safeguarding incident in a school. She says that public questions have not been effectively addressed, the process is costly and an unnecessary independent investigation is a "sledgehammer to crack a nut".
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: any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I have considered the information provided by Ms D.
I shared my draft decision with both parties.
What I found
Ms D complains about an internal report produced by the Council in 2017 relating to a safeguarding incident in a school. She says actions taken by the Council have been costly, taken too long and ineffective. She wants training for staff and for the Council to commission an expert on safeguarding.
Ms D does not specify any personal injustice in her documents. She refers to there being a wider public interest, but the Ombudsman has not received other complaints about this specific matter nor is it something that directly affects a wider group of people. In addition, the Ombudsman cannot advise the Council about the internal management of schools which is what part of the remedy sought would require. For those reasons I have discontinued the investigation.
Draft decision I have discontinued the case.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman