The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council did not respond to her complaints about Children’s Services. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault. We will also not investigate her complaint about a current child protection plan. That is because it first needs to complete the Council’s complaint procedure.
The complaint
Mrs X complained the Council did not respond to her complaints and did not properly manage her daughter’s child protection plan. Mrs X stated the child protection plan has caused her family a lot of stress and it has caused her to lose income. Mrs X would like the Council to apologise and for there to be progress on the child protection plan.
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, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X complained the Council did not respond to her complaint in 2024 about her family’s interaction with a social worker. The Council provided a copy of the complaint response from 2024 which was sent to Mrs X. The Council partially upheld Mrs X’s complaint due to the jargon used by a social worker. The Council stated that it would carry out further training with all social workers about the use of jargon when speaking to parents.
Mrs X made a further complaint to the Council in 2025 about the service her family had received from Children’s Social Services. In its complaint response, the Council upheld, or partially upheld parts of Mrs X’s complaint relating to communication from social workers, and how information was shared with Mrs X’s family. The Council stated it would review its practices in response to Mrs X’s complaint.
Mrs X stated that she was unhappy with how the Council were dealing with her daughter’s Child Protection Plan. Mrs X has lodged an appeal with the Council regarding the Child Protection Plan. The Council confirmed the Child Protection Plan appeal has not yet concluded.
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council did not respond to her complaints. The Council provided copies of the complaint responses sent to Mrs X. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. Where the Council upheld parts of her complaint, it apologised and said it would examine training for social workers. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the current Child Protection Plan. This matter would need to complete the review process to allow the Council the opportunity to consider and reply. The Council has offered to consider Mrs X’s concerns through its appeals procedure. Mrs X would need to complete this before we would investigate her complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. Other matters would need to complete the Council’s complaint procedure.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman