Summary: Ms M is unhappy with the Council’s response to her complaints. Most concern private family proceedings or are too old, so the Ombudsman cannot investigate them. There was no fault in the Council’s response to a safeguarding referral in February 2020.

The complaint

1. Ms M complains about the Council’s response her complaints over the past few years. She says the Council has failed to respond to her complaints on a number of occasions.
2. Ms M’s complaints concern the care of her son, B. B lives with his father following private court proceedings. Ms M complains about information the Council provided the Court and its response to her concerns about B’s welfare.

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What I have investigated

3. I have considered the Council’s response to Ms M’s complaints. I have not investigated her concerns about B’s welfare. These are matters for the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
6. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
7. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I have considered:
• information provided by Ms M; and
• information provided by the Council.
9. I invited Ms M and the Council to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

10. Ms M provided copies of nine complaints she made to the Council between August 2019 and December 2020 where she was unhappy with the response or did not receive a response.
11. I have decided to investigate just one: a complaint Ms M made on 14 February 2020 to which Ms M says she did not receive a response.
12. I have decided not to investigate the other complaints. Most concern a report the Court ordered the Council to prepare for private family proceedings concerning B (known as a section 7 report). The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about court proceedings. This includes complaints about reports the Court ordered the Council to prepare. Others concerned things that happened as long ago as 2017. These complaints are out of time.

The 14 February 2020 complaint

13. Ms M emailed the Council on 14 February 2020 to complain about her dealings with the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) the previous day. She had telephoned to report concerns for B’s welfare. She was unhappy with the suggestion of the social worker she spoke to that B’s school could check on his welfare. She says the social worker ended the call before she had chance to say everything she wanted.
14. Ms M complained to the Ombudsman in July 2020. She said the Council had not even acknowledged her complaint.
15. We made enquiries. The Council said it never received Ms M’s 14 February 2020 complaint. It said it had no record of any complaint correspondence from Ms M between 15 January and 6 July 2020, and Ms M had not referred to the complaint, or the fact she had not received a response, in any of her dealings with the Council.
16. The Ombudsman does not have the expertise to get to the bottom of the matter of whether the email was sent or received. I am prepared to accept on the balance of probability both that Ms M sent the email and that the Council did not receive it. Therefore, I find no fault by the Council in not responding to the complaint. With the benefit of hindsight, it might have been advisable for Ms M to have contacted the Council sooner when she did not receive a response.
17. Following our enquiries, the Council provided me with a response to the concerns Ms M raised in her 14 February 2020 complaint.
18. The Council received referrals from the Health Service and the Police about the 12 February incident. The referral from the Police says a Police officer visited B’s home and spoke with B, his father and Ms M. The Police Officer had no concerns about B’s safety. The referral from the Health Service relayed Ms M’s concerns about B’s wellbeing. There is also a record of the telephone conversation between Ms M and the social worker in which the social worker says that B’s school will refer any concerns to the Council. The referrals note the Council’s ongoing involvement with the family.
19. A manager reviewed both referrals. He assessed the referrals against the Council’s thresholds for support. He decided there were no safeguarding concerns and no further action was needed.
20. The Council assessed the referrals and decided no action was needed. The Ombudsman cannot question Council decisions taken without fault. There is no fault by the Council.

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Final decision

21. I have completed my investigation. There was no fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman