The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the accuracy of an assessment completed by the Council. This is because we could not achieve significantly more than the Council has already agreed to remedy the complaint.
The complaint
Mr X is complaining about the accuracy of an assessment produced by the Council.
He states he feels let down, and that the report should be reviewed and the inaccurate statements should be removed.
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: further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, there is another body better placed to consider this complaint; and, there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X states the Council produced a children and family assessment which included statements he describes as damaging and inaccurate.
The Council has stated it cannot change the completed assessment, but it will add Mr X’s comments to the file to show he disagrees with it.
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the issue concerns the accuracy of the assessment, and the Ombudsman typically does not expect assessments to be changed retrospectively as they reflect the officer’s views at the time. The Council’s agreement to retain Mr X’s comments provides a suitable remedy for the complaint and it is unlikely we could achieve significantly more for him.
If Mr X believes the report includes false information, he can pursue this under his legal right to rectification. If the Council refuses to rectify any inaccuracies Mr X may wish to contact the Information Commissioner, who is better placed to decide whether the Council has complied with its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not achieve significantly more than the Council has already agreed to do, to remedy the complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman