Nottinghamshire County Council (25 011 835)
Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Jan 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled a safeguarding investigation. This is because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about how the Council carried out safeguarding enquiries. He also complains the Council failed to review its first complaint response after saying it would.
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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained his mother’s care provider raised safeguarding concerns about him in retaliation after he ended their contract. The Council explained it has a duty to investigate any safeguarding concerns it receives. It carried out enquiries in line with procedures. The Council has apologised that it did not tell Mr X the concerns were unsubstantiated until he complained. I do not consider the injustice caused by this is significant enough to justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.
- Mr X asked the Council for a review of the first complaint response. It told him it would do this but did not. It later directed him to the Ombudsman. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive matter.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any injustice resulting from the Council’s actions is not significant enough to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman