Summary: We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to provide him with a male advocate and Social Worker. This is because it is unlikely there is enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions to warrant an ombudsman investigation. In the absence of fault, we cannot comment on the merits of councils decisions.

The complaint

1. Mr C says he is Muslim and requires a male Advocate and Social Worker. Mr C says the Council has refused to consider his complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council referred Mr C to an independent Advocacy organisation for support. It says Mr C’s concerns have been considered and responded to through the Advocacy’s own internal and review procedures and cannot comment further.
6. The Council has done all it needs to do and has referred Mr C to an independent advocacy service. There is not enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions who is not responsible for the Advocacy’s actions, to warrant an investigation by us. We cannot consider the actions of the Advocacy Service.
7. Mr C says he wants a male Social Worker and says the Council has refused to investigate his complaint. The Council has considered his complaint and advised Mr C an assessment was available to him in May 2021, but this did not go ahead because of his preference for a male practitioner. The Council explained it considers people’s preferences but in this case there were no male practitioner’s in the team at the time. The Council says Mr C has now engaged with a male practitioner for information and advice.
8. It is for a council to decide how to use its resources and it is not fault when a preference is not available. The Council’s duty is to assess needs and provide support for any identified needs from that assessment. There is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an ombudsman investigation. In the absence of fault, we cannot consider the merits of decisions taken by councils.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an ombudsman investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman