Summary: We will not investigate this complaint as it is unlikely we would find fault with the way the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint or the way it dealt with his requests for information.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to share information with his about children’s services involvement with his daughter. Mr X says the Council has left her in situations where she is at risk.
2. Mr X says the Council has refused to accept his complaint.
3. Mr X says the Council’s actions have caused him distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
5. 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

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
8. The complainant had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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My assessment

9. Mr X’s daughter was the subject of a child protection investigation under section 47 of the Children Act 1989. Section 47 investigations are not covered by the statutory children’s complaints procedure. However, I recognise that the Council has decided to use the procedure to consider Mr X’s complaint at stage 1. As the complaint is outside the scope of the statutory children’s complaints procedure it is unlikely we would find fault with how the Council has dealt with Mr X’s complaint and we should not investigate.
10. Mr X’s daughter did not want information shared with Mr X about what was happening. This limited the Council’s ability to share information with Mr X. The Council cannot go against Mr X’s daughter’s wishes in the circumstances of this complaint. Therefore, it is unlikely we would find fault and so we should not investigate this complaint.
11. Mr X is also unhappy the way the Council responded to his request for information under data protection legislation. If Mr X is unhappy he may complain to the Information Commissioner and I consider it would be reasonable to expect him to do so.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council. If Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s responses to his requests under data protection legislation he may complain to the Information Commissioner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman