Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the complainant cannot have unsupervised contact with her grandchildren. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, complains that she cannot have unsupervised contact with her grandchildren. She says it is unfair because she has not done anything wrong.

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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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s response. I considered information about the parents regarding contact. I invited Mrs X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Mrs X was served with a Child Abduction Warning Notice by the police in 2018. It expired in 2019. Mrs X’s partner has been convicted of offences against children.
5. The parents (of Mrs X’s grandchildren) have agreed their children cannot have unsupervised contact with Mrs X or her partner. The agreement is indefinite unless the parents ask to change the contact arrangements. The Council would then do assessments. The Council told Mrs X that it does not recommend unsupervised contact because of the offences committed by Mrs X’s partner and because of the events that led to the abduction warning notice. The Council said that decisions about contact rest with the parents but the Council had advised of the possible outcomes regarding unsupervised contact. The Council said Mrs X could get legal advice.

Assessment

6. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome. The Council correctly told Mrs X it is the responsibility of the parents to decide the contact arrangements for their children and it explained the reasons for the supervised contact. I could not change the contact arrangements, even if I started an investigation, because it is for the parents to make decisions about contact. Mrs X, as a grandparent, has no legal right to insist on any form of contact. In addition, due to confidentiality and data protection, there is no more information that could be shared with Mrs X.

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Final decision

7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman