Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that no-one from the social care team was available to attend her daughter, Miss X’s, final annual review. This is because the matter complained about did not cause Miss X a significant personal injustice serious enough to merit an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, complains no-one from the social care team was available to attend Miss X’s final review, prior to her leaving education, despite her giving two weeks’ notice. She also complained the duty worker failed to contact her, as promised.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
3. 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:

• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mrs X provided. I sent Mrs X a copy of my draft decision and invited her comments on it.

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What I found

5. Mrs X complains on behalf of her daughter Miss X.
6. Mrs X complains no-one from Miss X’s social care team was available to attend her final, annual review. Mrs X contacted the team two weeks before Miss X’s review to ask if someone could attend. A member of the team contacted Mrs X the following day and advised her to postpone the review as no-one could attend.
7. The Council, in its complaint response, explained that due to the timeframe involved, and the prior commitments of the team, it had not been possible for anyone from the team to attend the review.
8. The Council acknowledged the duty worker had failed to contact Mrs X as promised and apologised for this. It said it would arrange for a social worker to contact Mrs X and arrange to meet with her and Miss X.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the matter complained about has not caused Miss X a significant personal injustice serious enough to merit an investigation. Also, it is unlikely an investigation would be able to add significantly to the response already provided via the Council’s complaints procedure.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman