Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s involvement with her family. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, complained about the Council’s involvement with her family. Ms X says social workers threatened to call the Police and are harassing her via phone calls and emails.

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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 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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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. In its responses to Ms X ‘s complaints, the Council explained that because Ms X’s daughter (Y) is subject to a Child Protection Plan, social workers have a duty to ensure she is safe. When they had not seen Y after several attempts, they told Ms X they would need to call the Police. The Council said all contact with Ms X was using the details she had provided. All contact was from council mobiles or email addresses. Ms X claimed social workers had been contacting her for over 10 hours a day, but she had not provided proof of this.
6. While I understand the Council’s involvement will be distressing, we will not start an investigation into Ms X’s complaint. Councils put Child Protection Plans in place to protect children considered to be at significant risk of harm. The Council has a duty to follow the Plan. It requires social workers to visit Ms X and to check Y is safe. If social workers could not gain access to do this, calling the Police was a decision they were entitled to take. While the contact from the Council may feel intrusive, there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant us investigating.
7. If Ms X has concerns about the conduct of individual social workers, she can contact Social Work England as the relevant regulatory body.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman