The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council completed a single assessment. This is because the Council remedied the injustice caused to Mr X during its complaint’s process.
The complaint
Mr X complained a single assessment did not contain or reflect his views and was biased against him.
Mr X complained the Council stopped contact with his children and it affected his mental health. He wants the Council to apologise and safeguard his 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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, 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
The Council completed a single assessment to inform a child protection review conference. Mr X complained the assessment did not include his views and the Council said it did not take his views into account.
The assessment records that Mr X does not have parental responsibility, so it was difficult to engage him.
In its complaint response the Council acknowledged that it did not include Mr X’s views in the assessment. It said Mr X’s parental responsibility was unknown at the time, but it should have clarified his position in more detail.
The Council offered Mr X a symbolic payment of £200 in recognition that he did not contribute to the assessment. This is an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X and therefore we will not investigate this complaint.
Mr X complained the Council stopped contact with is children. The law says we have no legal jurisdiction to investigate any matter subject to court action. Therefore, we cannot investigate this matter.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because the Council remedied the injustice caused to Mr X during its complaint’s process.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman