Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council’s children’s services in relation to child protection matters. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and because other bodies are better placed to deal with some matters.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about the contents of an assessment completed by the Council, that recommended to the Initial Child Protection Conference (ICPC) that Mr X’s children should be subject to a child protection plan. Mr X says the Council relied upon false information in its assessment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the police. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the contents of the Council’s assessment. It’s recommendation that his children should be subject to a child protection plan was a professional judgement and it considered relevant information when reaching this conclusion. I have seen no evidence of fault in how that conclusion was reached and therefore cannot question it.
8. Mr X says that information provided by the police about him is inaccurate. We have no power to investigate the actions of the police. If Mr X feels the police or the Council are holding inaccurate information, he can complain to the Information Commissioner who is best placed to deal with complaints about such matters.
9. Finally, Mr X complained about the ICPC’s decision to place the children on a child protection plan. The conclusions reached by the ICPC fall outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction as the ICPC is a multiagency body. However, we can consider how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint about this.
10. The Council considered Mr X’s complaint about the ICPC under its local child protection procedures. It carried out a review of the ICPC’s decision, during which it considered relevant information and spoke to the chair of the ICPC. The Council concluded that child protection procedures had been followed when the ICPC reached its conclusions. Having considered the Council’s response, I see no evidence of fault in how it dealt with Mr X's complaint about the ICPC’s decision and will therefore not investigate this further.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and there are other bodies best placed to deal with some matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman