Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a safeguarding referral. This is because he is unlikely to find fault by the Council and the complainant has not suffered any injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, has complained about how the Council dealt with a safeguarding concern raised by her former employer.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered Ms X’s complaint and the correspondence from the Council. I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

Back to top

What I found

4. Councils have a specific duty under the Care Act 2014 to promote the wellbeing of individuals including protecting them from abuse and neglect. The Local Authority also has a duty to make enquires where a child is considered to be suffering or at risk of suffering harm. If the allegations of harm are made against a person who works with children, the council may appoint a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) to oversee and manage the investigation of the allegations.

What happened

5. Ms X worked at a college for people with disabilities and additional needs until August 2018. In November 2018, Ms X contacted former students on social media and arranged a meeting in a local pub to discuss concerns they had about rule changes at the college.
6. The college found out about the meeting and wrote to Ms X. It said that meetings with students should be arranged through the college’s formal process and meetings outside this process may put the students and Ms X at risk. The college also contacted the LADO to raise a safeguarding concern. The LADO considered the concerns but decided the criteria for its involvement had not been met and no further action was taken. The LADO suggested the college liaise with its human resources department or contact adult social care.
7. Ms X has complained about how the Council dealt with the safeguarding referral. She says it treated the students like children rather than adults. She also questions why the LADO did not refer the matter to the Council’s adult safeguarding department and says it has not confirmed what safeguarding risks the students faced.

Assessment

8. I will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a safeguarding referral. This is because it is unlikely I would find fault by the Council and Ms X has not suffered any injustice.
9. Ms X says the Council has treated the students like children. But after considering the concerns raised by the college the LADO ended its involvement as it said the criteria had not been met as the students were over 18 years old.
10. I understand Ms X argues that the LADO took too long to realise the matter was not within its remit. She also says the LADO should not have been advising the college and instead referred the matter to adult social care. The Council has said that adult safeguarding involvement was not warranted based on the information received from the college. But even if it could be shown that the Council should have referred the matter to adult social care, I cannot say Ms X has been caused any personal injustice or been disadvantaged by the situation.

Back to top

Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because he is unlikely to find fault by the Council and Ms X has not suffered any personal injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman