The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council refused to investigate his complaint under its children’s statutory complaints procedure. This is because we have not seen enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council refused to investigate his complaint under its Children’s Statutory Complaints Procedure.
Mr X said the Council told him parts of his complaint were late or outside its jurisdiction. Mr X also said the Council told him the other parts of his complaint would be dealt with by the relevant teams within the Council.
Mr X also complained the Council advised him safeguarding concerns take precedence over complaints.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault with the Council’s decision to refuse to investigate his complaint under its complaints procedure.
The Council told Mr X that his Data Protection and Subject Access Request queries would be dealt with by the relevant team within the Council, and not through the complaints procedure.
It also advised Mr X that other parts of his complaint were late or outside its jurisdiction and therefore would not be investigated.
We also note the Council advised Mr X that safeguarding concerns are not normally investigated under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. It said this is because safeguarding concerns take precedence over complaints.
The Council advised Mr X to seek independent legal advice if he had any concerns about his case that went before the Family Court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman