Swindon Borough Council (22 017 084)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 30 Mar 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about information provided to the police by a Council’s social worker. This is because investigation could not establish that the Council’s action in providing the information caused the complainant a significant injustice.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss X, complains that a social worker provided information to the police which she had no opportunity to challenge.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X says that, in the course of a police investigation, a social worker provided information to the police. She complains that the information was not recorded, so she had no opportunity to challenge it. The evidence Miss X has provided indicates that she was subsequently convicted of an offence.
- Miss X says that, because of the Council’s intervention, the police investigation was characterised by bias, and that evidence was not disclosed to her defence.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s investigation. Matters leading to the police’s decision to prosecute and the Court’s decision to convict do not fall within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and we cannot consider them. That being the case, investigation would not establish a causal link between the action the Council took and the injustice Miss X claims to have suffered.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because investigation could not establish that the Council’s action caused her a significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman