Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council’s children’s services after a foster placement was ended and a safeguarding referral was received about the complainant. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, other bodies are better placed to deal with the complaint and the complainant does not have consent to complain on behalf of the children about any injustice they have suffered.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains and about the actions of the Council after it received a safeguarding concern about her after a foster placement had ended. She says the Council’s actions prevented her from fostering for four months, that she was unable to have contact with the children and she says is concerned about the welfare of the children. Mrs X also complains that third party information was shared with her by the Council.

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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 cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)
4. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)
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.

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My assessment

8. In 2022, the Council ended a foster placement with Mrs X. A child subsequently made an allegation which the Council considered met the threshold for consideration by a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) so it referred the allegation for investigation by the LADO in Mrs X’s home authority.
9. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council forwarded a malicious referral to her home authority LADO. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council has a duty to forward on allegations to the relevant LADO, which it did. We cannot hold the council responsible for any decision to stop Mrs X fostering, this is because this would be a decision made by her home authority and fostering agency. Both of which are based in Wales meaning they fall outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
10. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that she has been refused contact with the children. When considering complaints, we cannot question the merits of a decision the Council has made or offer any opinion on whether or not we agree with the judgment of the Councils’ officers if it was not affected by fault. In responding to Mrs X’s request for contact with the children, the Council completed a contact assessment during which it spoke with the children and considered the children’s current circumstances. It concluded it would not be beneficial for direct contact between the children and Mrs X at this stage. This is a professional judgement it is entitled to make and I see no evidence of fault in how it reached this decision.
11. Mrs X describes her concerns that the Council’s action have negatively impacted the children. However, because she has no consent to act on behalf of the children we cannot consider the impact any decision by the Council has had on them.
12. Finally, we will not investigate Mrs X complaint that the Council shared third party information with her. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed to consider complaints about breaches of data protection.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, other bodies are better placed to consider some elements of her complaint and she does not have consent to complain on behalf of the children.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman