Summary: The Ombudsman should not investigate Mr and Mrs J’s complaint about comments made by a social worker during a telephone call to them. It is unlikely we would find evidence of administrative fault, and the injustice arising from comments made during a private telephone call is not so great that it justifies our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr and Mrs J complain about comments made by a social worker during a telephone call to them.

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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’.
3. 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 evidence of administrative fault, or we believe the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the information Mr and Mrs J provided with their complaint, and copies of their correspondence with the Council about the complaint, which we asked the Council to provide. I have considered Mr and Mrs J’s comments on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. The Council assessed Mr and Mrs J to be adoptive parents. A social worker rang them to discuss the outcome of the assessment. Mr and Mrs J say that during this call, the social worker made comments about them which were unjustified and hurtful. These comments were not included in the assessment itself.
6. I have no reason to disbelieve what Mr and Mrs J say. But we conduct evidence-based investigations into administrative fault. Such comments, made during a phone call, do not amount to administrative fault.
7. More importantly, perhaps, the injustice arising to Mr and Mrs J is limited. Comments made during a private telephone call are not a matter of public record and there is nothing to suggest that such comments have been made to other professionals known to the family. And if they had been, this would be a matter of defamation, for the courts to consider.
8. So we should not investigate this complaint.
9. Mr and Mrs J have said that the comments made to them cause concern about how other prospective adopters will be considered by the Council. But our role is to consider complaints of fault causing injustice to the person making the complaint. We cannot conduct a speculative investigation.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find evidence of administrative fault, and the injustice arising from comments made during a private telephone call is not so great that it justifies our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman