Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in the course of child protection action and in the production of a report the complainant regards as inaccurate. This is because we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council was at fault in the course of child protection action in respect of his family, producing an inaccurate report which remains on its file.

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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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, 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. Mr X’s family was the subject of child protection action. The Council’s case is now closed. Mr X contends that the Council’s action was flawed and potentially left his family at risk. He says the report completed in the course of the child protection investigation is inaccurate and gives a false representation of him.
6. Mr X is concerned that the report remains on the Council’s file and may potentially be seen by his children in future. As the case is closed, he wants the Council to remove the report from its records.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking. We will not ask a council to alter or remove content from its records retrospectively. This is because the records reflect the position at the time they were produced. The most we will normally seek is that a council place a record of the complainant's dissenting views on file. Mr X has already set out his views on the accuracy of the report when making his complaint. This also forms part of the case record and our intervention would achieve nothing more.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman