The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker and about the Council’s response to the subsequent complaint. This is because we could add nothing significant to the investigation the Council has already carried out.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council has been at fault in its engagement with his family and in its response to his complaint about the actions of a social worker.
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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr B’s youngest daughter was the subject of private law proceedings and child protection action. The evidence shows that a child arrangement order was made, under which the care of Mr B’s daughter was shared between him and his daughter’s mother. His daughter was also placed on a child protection plan on the grounds of emotional harm, due to the conflict between her parents.
Mr B’s complaint relates primarily to the actions of a social worker appointed to manage his daughter’s case. He argues that the social worker deliberately supported his daughter’s mother in actions amounting to parental alienation, and falsely accused him of abusive behaviours.
The evidence shows the social worker was tasked with completing a Section 7 report addendum for the use of the Court in the private law proceedings. Mr B argues the addendum was inaccurate and contributed to a negative outcome. He says that, outside the court proceedings, the Council has accepted that parental alienation took place, in contradiction to the content of the addendum.
Mr B made a complaint to the Council, to which it responded under the statutory procedure for children’s services complaints. He says the way the Council broke the complaint down did not reflect its essence and the process did not question the social worker’s actions or seek the views of other social workers.
The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because we would be unable to add anything significant to the investigation the Council has already carried out. The way the Council broke the complaint down excludes those aspects of it which relate to the matters the Court considered – specifically issues around contact and the child’s mother’s parenting. These matters fall outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction by law, preventing us from considering matters which have been considered and decided in court. This means that the evidence the Council presented in the Section 7 report addendum is not for us to consider. That being the case, we cannot criticise the way the Council decided to define the complaint at Stage 2, because to do so would involve considering matters inextricably linked to matters outside our jurisdiction.
The conclusions reached at Stage 3 and set out in the Council’s final response are reasonable and defensible and there is no indication of significant fault in the way they were reached. That being the case, the Ombudsman cannot criticise their merits or intervene to substitute an alternative view.
It is also the case that investigation by the Ombudsman would not achieve what Mr B is seeking. Mr B wants an apology from the social worker. The Ombudsman considers complaints against councils as corporate bodies, not against individuals. The Council has already apologised where it was found to be at fault. Mr B also wants the Council to apologise to the Court and retract the view set out in the Section 7 report addendum. This is not something the Ombudsman can achieve, as it relates to the matters decided in court.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because we could add nothing significant to the investigation the Council has already carried out.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman