Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council is at fault in its response to his concerns about his son’s welfare. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council is at fault in failing to properly investigate his concerns about his son’s welfare and in refusing to reopen its case.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. The complainant has had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have considered his comments.

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My assessment

6. Mr B’s son lives with his mother. Mr B has concerns about his son’s welfare. In September 2020 he brought a specific incident to the Council’s attention. The Council investigated and decided the referral did not meet the threshold for child protection action. Mr B disagrees, and believes the Council should have removed the child from his mother’s care.
7. Mr B says there has been a new referral from the child’s nursery, as well as police involvement. He argues that the police have admitted failings in the original investigation of the matter, and his MP has expressed concerns. Mr B has asked the Council to reopen the initial matter and reconsider it.
8. In response to Mr B’s representations, the Council has declined to reinvestigate the referral. It says the new matters do not give rise to safeguarding concerns, and that it has no concerns about the child’s welfare. Mr B believes the Council’s position is wrong.
9. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part. Having considered the content of the Child and Family Assessment carried out in response to Mr B’s referral, I can see nothing to suggest that the social worker was at fault in how they considered the matter.
10. I have also considered the Council’s response to a subsequent allegation that the child’s mother breached a court order. Again, there is no evidence of fault in the way this matter was considered.
11. The Council has explained why it believes there are insufficient grounds to reopen Mr B’s referral. Mr B disagrees, but that does not mean there is a role for the Ombudsman. Whether a referral meets the threshold for action is a matter for the professional judgement of the officers concerned. There is no evidence of fault in the way that judgement was exercised. Without such evidence, we cannot intervene to criticise the decisions they made, or substitute an alternative view.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman