Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of social workers and the content of a report completed in the course of child protection action. This is because investigation would not achieve the outcome the complainant wants.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr X, complains that social workers were at fault in producing an inaccurate report in the course of a child protection investigation.

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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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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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 complaint relates to a child protection investigation the Council carried out under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989. He says that, in the course of the investigation, the Council’s social workers wrongly presumed his guilt and produced a report containing significant inaccuracies.
6. Mr X made a formal complaint to the Council. He says that, as a result of the complaint, many of the inaccuracies have been removed. But he remains unhappy with the outcome. To remedy the complaint, he wants the report removed from the Council’s records and the fitness of two social workers to work with families assessed.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve what he wants. We would not ask for a report to be deleted because it forms part of the record of the case and reflects the views of officers at the time it was written. The most we would seek to achieve in these circumstances is that a record of the complainant’s disagreements is added to the file. Mr X has made a formal complaint, so his views are already part of the record of the case. So, our intervention is not warranted.
8. If Mr X believes the Council still holds false information about him, his recourse is to pursue his legal right of rectification. There is no role for the Ombudsman.
9. The Ombudsman investigates complaints against councils, not individual officers, and the fitness of social workers is not a matter for us. Social Work England is the appropriate body to consider such matters.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because investigation would not achieve the outcome he wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman