Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council sharing child protection concerns with the police. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, or that any fault caused Miss X’s injustice.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council passed information on to the police about child sexual abuse several years after the incident, without Miss X’s knowledge or permission. She says the Council did not keep good records and has therefore alleged Miss X was party to the disclosure, which she says was not the case. Miss X says she has suffered significant distress, and she would like the Council to pay her compensation.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

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

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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. Miss X’s complaint concerns a disclosure by the Council to the police in 2020 about historic child sexual abuse. Miss X says the resulting legal proceedings caused her significant distress as she had to relive details of abuse she suffered.
6. Everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe. If children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who encounters them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information, and taking prompt action. (Working Together to Safeguard Children) 
7. The Council had a duty to share information with the police when Miss X disclosed historical child sexual abuse, despite the time that had passed. This duty also overrides the need for consent. We would not find fault in the Council’s decision to share the disclosure with the police in 2020. We also could not say now whether the Council’s records from 2020 were inaccurate and we could not achieve a meaningful outcome by investigating.
8. In any event, any fault by the Council did not cause Miss X’s distress. It is naturally distressing to have experienced child sexual abuse and to have to revisit the details of that abuse during the process of legal action many years later. It is
   Miss X’s abuser, not the Council, who is responsible for the distress she experienced. After the Council shared the relevant information with the police, it was for the police to decide how the information should be dealt with and what processes would follow. The resulting legal proceedings added to Miss X’s distress, but that is not due to fault.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, or that any fault caused Miss X's injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman