Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s action in response to allegations against the complainant. This is because we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant wants.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council is preventing him from living with his family and working with children on the basis of false allegations against him.

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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.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X states he was the subject of false allegations and was cleared of any crime in court. Despite this, he says the Council is preventing him from working with young people as a sporting official and has placed restrictions on his contact with his children. As a result, he cannot stay in his family home.
6. He argues that the Council’s actions were based on the opinion of a police officer whose views should not have been taken into account. He wants the Council’s files to be amended to remove the allegations against him and all restrictions on his activities lifted.
7. The evidence Mr X has provided shows that he was the subject of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) process in 2021. The LADO process found the allegation against him to be substantiated. The LADO process does not operate to the same evidential standard as the courts and is entitled to regard allegations as substantiated even when they have not been upheld in a court of law.
8. The LADO is entitled to take account of police evidence, and it is for the police to decide which officer should be involved in the process. Any concerns about the specific officer are for the police, not the Ombudsman.
9. The information Mr X has provided shows that he was able to give his response to the allegations during the LADO process. The Ombudsman cannot overturn a LADO’s decision, or substitute an alternative view. Our involvement would therefore achieve nothing significant.
10. With regard to the restrictions Mr X says the Council has placed on his contact with his family, unless a court has instructed it to manage contact, the Council only has the power to make non-binding recommendations. It may however ask the court to take action if any party decides not to accept its recommendations and it believes this places a child at risk. These are matters for the courts and the Ombudsman may not intervene. If Mr X is unhappy with current contact arrangements his recourse is to take the matter to court.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcomes he is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman