The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council’s children’s services. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
Miss X complains about the actions of the Council’s children’s services. Miss X says the Council included inaccurate information in its assessments and asked inappropriate questions of her children.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (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
I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council used inaccurate information in its assessment. The information that Miss X says is inaccurate came from the police and her children’s school. We would not find the Council at fault for using information from third parties and if Miss X wishes to challenge the accuracy of the information, she should contact the police and the school.
If Miss X thinks the Council is recording inaccurate personal information about her it is reasonable to expect her to use the right to rectification process and then raise the matter with the Information Commissioner if the council refuses to make amendments.
I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council asked her children inappropriate questions because there is insufficient evidence of fault. The allocated social worker spoke to Miss X’s children and asked questions that were relevant to the concerns raised in the referral it received and it was doing so in order to asked to assess any potential risk that the children may face.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman