Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about information sharing and an officer’s professionalism because there are other bodies better placed. We cannot consider whether the Council should take any safeguarding action because a Court is considering this.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, is unhappy with the way an officer conducted a meeting, he says they were biased and unprofessional. He says the Council provided a copy of a report to Ms Y without his permission.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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:
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mr X provided with his complaint and the Council’s replies which it provided. Mr X had the opportunity comment on a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

6. Mr X says he reported problems with his child’s partner, Ms Y, to the police and the Council. He says the Council assigned a children services social worker who visited his home. He did not like the way the officer spoke to him nor the way they discussed the case. He says they appeared biased in favour of his child’s mother and seemed to not believe him.
7. Mr X says the Council then provided Ms Y with a copy of the police report he had made. He says he had made it clear it was confidential and should not be disclosed.
8. Mr X says the Council’s actions have left him emotionally devastated and intensely worried. He says the Council’s actions caused Ms Y to stop the child having any contact with Mr X.
9. The Council say that it cannot adequately investigate a complaint about what happened at a meeting as its one person’s word against another. It says the Court is now considering the child’s care arrangements and it should not therefore consider any complaint connected with this.

Analysis

10. Parliament set up the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to consider data protection disputes. Mr X’s complaint about the Council giving Ms Y a document he had not consented to, is a data protection issue. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to complain to the ICO as they are better placed to consider this part of his complaint.
11. Mr X complains about a social worker’s professionalism. Social Work England oversees social workers registrations and considers complaints about this. They are better placed to consider this part of his complaint. In addition, there is no practical prospect that we would be able to investigate the allegations.
12. We cannot investigate if the Council should have taken more action to safeguard the child. This is because the Court is now considering the child’s care arrangements.
13. It is unlikely we could show with any degree of probability that the Council’s actions have directly caused the upset and problems Mr X now has.

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Final decision

14. We will not and cannot investigate this complaint. This is because there are other bodies better placed and we cannot investigate issues which the Court is currently considering.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman