Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in response to a safeguarding referral about her children. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the matters complained of to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X said a social worker visited her home and insisted on speaking to her children alone. She said the social worker did not respond to her correspondence showing the allegations made against her were false. She said the visit was upsetting for her family and it continues to affect them.

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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 or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint correspondence and asked the Council for a copy of the original safeguarding referral it received. I gave Ms X an opportunity to comment on a draft decision.

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What I found

4. The Council received a safeguarding referral about Ms X’s children. I have seen a confidential copy of the referral. It gave specific concerns about significant harm to her children in her care.
5. Whether the information in the referral was correct is not relevant to the matters complained of. Councils with safeguarding duties under the Children Act 1989 should not seek certainty about the validity of a referral before acting. Instead, they merely need to have reason to suspect a child may be at risk of significant harm.
6. Given what the referral contained and its source, I would have expected the Council to assure itself of the children’s safety. And given the referral raised concerns that Ms X might have caused significant harm, it would be normal practice to carry out an unannounced visit to the family home and to speak to the children individually on their own. Such visits are likely to cause distress. I would not expect a social worker to engage in correspondence about the validity of the referral after that with the person alleged to have caused the harm. I appreciate Ms X and her children found the social worker’s actions upsetting. But that does not mean there was fault.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the matters complained of to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman