Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council’s children and family assessment, based on a late 2019 interview, contains false information and is unfair to him. There is insufficient injustice, the views in the assessment have been nullified by the outcome of a court case, and Mr X may take his concerns to other bodies.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council’s social worker produced a children and family assessment report, following a meeting in late 2019, which contains false information and portrays him unfairly. The Council assessed the welfare of Mr X’s child following safeguarding concerns. Mr X says he was not given the opportunity to challenge the content of the report and only recently obtained a copy of it. He also did not know the name of the social worker who he says breached professional standards set by Social Work England. Mr X says the social worker took the claims of family members at face value. He disagrees with the social worker’s view there should be supervised contact and that he needed help regarding his behaviour towards his child. Mr X says the Council caused him distress. He wants his comments on the report linked to it in case future issues arise. He wants the social worker to reflect on practice. Mr X also says the Council refused to investigate his complaint due to the time which has passed since the assessment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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. 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)
6. 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

7. I have considered Mr X’s information and comments. The information held includes the complaint correspondence with the Council.

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My assessment

8. I will not investigate this complaint for the following reasons:
9. There is insufficient injustice to investigate. The Council closed the family case in January 2020. The 2019 assessment has no effect following the decision of the court that considered the child’s welfare. Mr X says the court order gives him unsupervised contact with his child and more time together. Mr X told the Council the assessment report says he was confrontational in the interview and ‘picked’ at the social worker’s views. The social worker is entitled to record how she found Mr X and the comments do not cause Mr X injustice.
10. The Ombudsman cannot lawfully investigate how the Council’s assessment was used or referred to at court (see paragraphs 3 and 5). Mr X says it took two years to obtain a child arrangement order. He says the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (CAFCASS) court report found he does not need help with his behaviour towards his son. It appears there was reference to the social worker’s actions or opinion during the court procedure, but we cannot investigate.
11. Events which Mr X knew about in 2019-20 are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction because Mr X complains late, outside the ‘permitted period’ of 12 months (paragraph 4). Mr X’s complaint to the Council criticises the conduct of the 2019 interview. He says there was a lack of information and poor communication. He says the behaviour of the social worker breached professional values. I will not exercise discretion to investigate because Mr X could have complained sooner.
12. Mr X may reasonably take his concerns to other bodies:
1. Mr X can go to the Information Commissioner if he believes the Council holds inaccurate personal data on him (see paragraph 6). He says the Council’s report contains inaccurate information about his address and employment.
2. Mr X can go to Social Work England, which regulates professional practice, if he continues to have concerns about the social worker’s practice.
13. Although the Ombudsman will not investigate, I will ask the Council to ensure Mr X’s comments, set out in his complaint to the Council dated 13 June 2022, are linked to the case record.

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Final decision

14. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council’s children and family assessment, based on a late 2019 interview, contains false information and is unfair to him. There is insufficient injustice, the views in the assessment have been nullified by the outcome of a court case, and Mr X may take his concerns to other bodies.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman