Summary: Miss B complained the Council failed to take adequate action after her daughter disclosed sexual abuse. We find the Council was not at fault.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained the Council failed to take adequate action after her daughter disclosed sexual abuse. She says the Council failed to ensure her daughter received proper support and recommendations for her were not implemented. She also says the Council failed to ensure that appropriate work was done with the perpetrator and his family.
2. Miss B says her daughter is still suffering from the trauma of sexual abuse. She says this could have been avoided if the Council provided proper support.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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)
5. 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

6. I considered information Miss B submitted with her complaint. I have considered the Council’s response to my enquiries, which includes confidential information that I cannot share with Miss B or refer to in this decision.
7. Miss B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant legislation and guidance

8. The Children Act 1989 says councils have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area.
9. These duties are set out in the statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’. If a council receives a report of concern about a child, the referrer must have the opportunity to discuss their concerns with a qualified social worker. The council must then, within one working day, decide what response is required. This includes determining whether:

• The child requires immediate protection and urgent action is required.
• The child is in need and should be assessed under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
• There is reasonable cause to suspect that the child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm. If there is, enquiries must be made, and the child should be assessed under section 47 of the Children Act 1989.
• Any services are required by child and the family.
• Further specialist assessments are required.
• No further action is required.

What happened

10. Miss B contacted the Council in October 2018 and said her daughter (C) had disclosed that a relative (D) had inappropriately touched her. The Council told Miss B to contact the police.
11. The Council held a meeting the following day. The result of the meeting was for the Council to conduct joint section 47 enquiries with the police.
12. The social worker visited C that day to get her account of the incident. Miss B and her partner signed an agreement to ensure that C would not have any unsupervised contact with D.
13. After reviewing the case, the police decided not to take any further action.
14. The social worker contacted C’s school and her health visitor for further information. The school noted that C’s behaviour had changed recently but it was unsure whether it was linked to the incident. The school said it had found a counselling service for C that was due to start.
15. The social worker contacted Miss B to arrange a further home visit to see C. Miss B told the social worker that C was continuing to have no contact with D.
16. The Council completed its assessment and noted there had been no further incidents and Miss B was continuing to follow the written agreement about contact with D. C was receiving counselling through her school and the social worker had made a referral to a sexual abuse counselling service for further support. Therefore, it decided to close the case.
17. Miss B complained to the Council in March 2021. She said C had made a further disclosure in 2020 and so she contacted the sexual abuse counselling service for some advice. She said the counselling service told her the Council had failed to ensure it properly supported C in 2018 and it had failed to work with D and his mother. The Council responded and said its social care department could not deal with the complaint because of the time that had passed. However, it said it would pass her complaint on to the service manager to respond.
18. The service manager responded to the complaint in May 2021. She noted the social worker completed an assessment which identified that C’s school had already offered support through a counselling service. There were no safeguarding concerns as Miss B had acted quickly in reporting the incident and C was not having contact with D. The social worker had also made a referral to a sexual abuse counselling service. The service manager said she could not provide any details about D and his family for confidentiality reasons. However, having reviewed the file, she was satisfied the Council had taken suitable action.

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Analysis

19. The Ombudsman cannot investigate late complaints. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. The Council closed its file in March 2019 and Miss B did not refer her complaint to us until March 2021. I am exercising discretion to look at the Council’s actions from October 2018. Miss B only became aware of Council’s failures when she contacted the counselling service in September 2020. It told her the Council had failed to follow the correct process in October 2018.
20. The Council acted properly when Miss B contacted it in October 2018. It liaised with the police, visited Miss B and C, and got Miss B and her partner to sign an agreement to ensure that C would not come into direct contact with D.
21. It was the Council’s view that C was no longer at risk. C’s school confirmed it had referred her for counselling. The social worker also made a referral to a sexual abuse counselling service so C could get further support. The Council was satisfied that other specialist services could meet C’s needs and therefore there was no further role for it. I appreciate Miss B disagrees with this, but I find no fault in the way the Council reached its decision.
22. Miss B says the Council failed to ensure appropriate work was done with D and his family. I cannot provide Miss B with any details of the Council’s involvement with D as it is confidential. However, from the records I have reviewed, I am satisfied the Council took appropriate action. Therefore, I do not find fault.

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Final decision

23. I have completed my investigation and do not uphold Miss B’s complaint. The Council was not at fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman