North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council (24 014 027)
Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 03 Dec 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her safeguarding concerns, and its communication. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council failed to take appropriate action after she raised safeguarding concerns about her mother, Ms Y. She is unhappy with its communication on the matter. She also complains about the Council’s breaches of data protection law.
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’, 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:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
- We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
- The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
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 investigated Mrs X’s concerns and found no reason to take safeguarding action. I have reviewed key documents, including the Council’s safeguarding reports. While I appreciate Mrs X is unhappy with the outcome of her referral, I am satisfied the Council investigated and decided in line with its published policy. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
- It is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s communication in isolation when I will not investigate the substantive matter of the complaint.
- It is reasonable to expect Mrs X to take any complaints about the Council’s data handling to the Information Commissioner’s Office for its consideration. It is the appropriate body to review such matters.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman