Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a recent Child Protection Conference. It is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response. We will not investigate Miss X’s concerns about the Council’s involvement with her family over the last five years. These issues are late and there is no good reason we should now look at them.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complained about the conduct of the council officer who chaired a recent Child Protection Conference. Miss X said there were rude and wrongly changed the category of child protection recorded against her children.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council has upheld Miss X’s complaint. It said it did not condone the actions of the officer involved and has explained they no longer work for the Council. It said it would be asking for their comments and would consider a referral to Social Work England. The Council said it had added a note to Miss X’s record to explain the category of child protection recorded was wrong. It was working with its technical team to change the record permanently. The Council apologised and offered £200.
7. I understand Miss X’s concerns, but we will not start an investigation into her complaint. This is because the Council has accepted fault, apologised, offered a financial remedy, and is looking to correct Miss X’s record. We could not achieve anything more and an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
8. Miss X is also unhappy with how the Council has dealt with her family over the last five years. The Ombudsman normally expects people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. This part of the complaint is therefore late. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are good reasons to do so. I do not consider that to be the case here. Miss X could have complained much earlier and so we will not investigate. Miss X has also now moved out of the Council’s area and so it no longer has any involvement with her family. An investigation would be unlikely to achieve a worthwhile outcome.
9. If Miss X wants to raise her own concerns about the Chair of the Child Protection Conference and their fitness to practice, she can contact Social Work England as the relevant regulatory body. It has powers to act against the person concerned – the Ombudsman does not.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is unlikely an investigation would achieve anything more and there is no good reason to investigate matters which are late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman