Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with the family of the complainant’s partner, and the way in which it handled his data. This is because the complainant does not have consent to complain on behalf of his partner, and we are unlikely to find fault in relation to the data handling.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr D, says that the Council;
• Has refused to investigate a complaint that he made about its actions regarding child protection issues in relation to his partner and her children;
• Checked his criminal record without his consent; and
• Disclosed confidential personal data about him and his to third parties.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information provided by Mr D, and I have sent him a draft decision for his comments.

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What I found

6. Mr D’s partner has children who have been subject to child protection procedures by the Council. Mr D says that the Council has not treated his partner or her children fairly during this process.
7. We cannot consider this part of Mr D’s complaint. This is because he has no consent to raise a complaint on behalf of his partner, and he cannot complain on behalf of her children as he does not have parental responsibility for them.
8. Mr D also complains on his own behalf, that during the child protection procedures, the Council checked his criminal record, and shared personal data relating to him and to his mother, without his consent.
9. We will not investigate this issue as we are unlikely to find fault. This is because in child protection cases, the Council is able to make relevant enquiries about individuals and share data with involved professionals.
10. The Council further says that the personal data which Mr D believes was shared with third parties, was provided only to his partner, within a Child Protection Conference Review report.
11. However, if Mr D feels that the Council did not carry out data protection duty in a proper manner, he does have the right to ask the Information Commissioner’s Office to consider the matter.

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Final decision

12. Subject to any comments Mr D might make, my view is that the Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because he does not have parental responsibility for his partner’s children, and we are unlikely to find fault in the issue relating to him.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman