Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to seek his consent before it spoke with his children following a safeguarding referral to its children’s services department. This is because the Council upheld the complaint and remedied the injustice caused by apologising. An investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve a different outcome. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that a social worker lied about obtaining his consent because an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to obtain his consent to visit his children in school when it received a safeguarding referral. Mr X also complained a social worker lied to the children’s school and said they had obtained his consent to visit the children when they did not.
2. Mr X said this caused him distress and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, 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))

4. The Ombudsman cannot investigate whether social workers are meeting their professional standards of conduct. Complaints of this nature should be referred to the social workers’ professional body, Social Work England.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council received a safeguarding referral regarding Mr X’s child, Y. The Council investigated the referral under its statutory child protection duties. It visited Mr X’s children in their school. The Council did not seek Mr X’s consent before it visited the children.
8. Mr X complained to the Council. He said he was distressed a stranger visited his children without his knowledge or consent. Mr X later told the Council the social worker lied to the school and said they had obtained his consent to visit the children when they had not.
9. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaints. It agreed that, in this case, it could have sought Mr X’s consent before visiting the children. If Mr X had declined, it should then have decided whether to override his consent to visit the children. The Council apologised and said it had acted to ensure the fault would not reoccur. It allocated a new social worker.
10. The Council also said it found no evidence the social worker told the school they had obtained Mr X’s consent to see his children. The Council said it spoke with the school, and the school confirmed the social worker did not say they had obtained Mr X’s consent to see the children.

Analysis

11. The Council upheld Mr X’s complaint and said it could have obtained his consent before it saw his children in school. It apologised for the distress it caused and explained actions it had taken to ensure the fault did not reoccur, including additional training and supervision with the social worker. These were appropriate actions in line with our Guidance on Remedies. Therefore, an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve a different outcome and we will not investigate this complaint.
12. The Council found no evidence the social worker told the school they had Mr X’s consent to see his children. An investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to add anything further to this investigation or achieve a different outcome. In any event, Mr X’s primary complaint is that the Council spoke with his children without his consent, which it has already apologised for. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.
13. In addition, if Mr X is concerned about the social worker’s conduct, he could take the matter to Social Work England, which is the statutory body which ensures social workers are meeting their professional standards.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has already apologised for the fault, and further investigation is unlikely to achieve a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman